Dionne Brand named Toronto poet laureate
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 | 5:46 PM ET
CBC News
Dionne Brand, a Governor General's Award-winning writer, has been named Toronto's poet laureate.
Toronto city council appointed the Trinidad-born poet and novelist, now based in Toronto, to the post on Wednesday.
The position was established in 2001 and has been held by Dennis Lee and Pier Giorgio di Ciccio.
Brand, author of No Language is Neutral and Land to Light On, is nominated for her second Governor General's Award for poetry for Inventory.
She has been a finalist for the Trillium Book Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize and won the Toronto Book Award for her novel What We All Long For in 2006.
Many of her works reflect on the immigrant experience in Canada and life in Toronto.
"I have a great passion for this city — in its multiplicity it is constantly rich and surprising," she said in a statement.
The three-year position comes with a $10,000 annual honorarium.
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