Ossuaries

Dionne Brand’s hypnotic, urgent long poem – her first book of poetry in four years, is about the bones of fading cultures and ideas, about the living museums of spectacle where these bones are found. At the centre of Ossuaries is the narrative of Yasmine, a woman living an underground life, fleeing from past actions and regrets, in a perpetual state of movement. She leads a solitary clandestine life, crossing borders actual (Algiers, Cuba, Canada), and timeless. Cold-eyed and cynical, she contemplates the periodic crises of the contemporary world. This is a work of deep engagement, sensuality, and ultimate craft from an essential observer of our time and one of the most accomplished poets writing today.

Dionne Brand is a multi-award-winning poet, essayist, and novelist. Her ten volumes of poetry include Land to Light On, winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Book Award; thirsty, winner of the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, the Toronto Book Award, and the Griffin Poetry Prize; Inventory, a finalist for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Governor General’s Award; and, most recently, Ossuaries. Her most recent novel, What We All Long For, was published to great acclaim in Canada and Italy in 2005, and won the Toronto Book Award.

In 2006, Brand was awarded the prestigious Harbourfront Festival Prize for her contribution to the world of books and writing, and, in 2009, she was named Toronto’s Poet Laureate. In addition to her literary accomplishments, Brand is Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. She lives in Toronto.