Marilyn Dumont reads from award winning poetry collection at Malaspina

Highly acclaimed Canadian author Marilyn Dumont will be reading at Malaspina University-College on Nov. 5 as part of the ongoing Poets on Campus series.

Dumont will be reading at Malaspina from ‘that tongued belonging’, her newest collection of poetry, which recently won two McNally Robinson writing awards, including the Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival poetry book of the year and the McNally Robinson Aboriginal book of the year.

“Public readings give me the opportunity to use my voice as an instrument,” said Dumont. “I love the way one can play with intonation, rhythm and silence to engage an audience. I really admire and envy singer/songwriters, and I've had a secret desire to sing, so this is a place where I can express myself through my voice. Sound is fundamental to poetry.  It is about the sound/sense combination of words strung together to make sense and melody.  Sound is often overlooked in writing, unfortunately. Some poems are better suited to oral performance - there is no doubt, but a 'good' poem will affect a reader/listener on both levels simultaneously.”

Dumont’s poetry covers a wide range of themes, from aboriginal issues, women’s issues and issues of love, desire, loss and longing. Language is also a theme that emerges a lot in her writing. Her first collection of poems (A Really Good Brown Girl) won the 1997 Gerald Lampert award for the best first collection of poetry by a Canadian writer. Her second collection (Green Girl Dreams Mountains) won the 2001 Stephan G. Stephansson Award from the Writer’s guild of Alberta.

Jay Ruzesky, an English professor at Malaspina, is excited that students and the public will get to hear Dumont read.

“Marilyn Dumont is a writer we can learn from because she takes on tough issues without fear and provokes readers to think,” said Ruzesky. “She is also a careful craftsperson who shapes her poems in a way that makes them hit us where it really counts -- in the heart.”

Dumont is currently working on a project that explores Metis history, politics and identity through her ancestral figure, Gabriel Dumont.

Dumont will be reading at Malaspina on November 5, from 7-8:30 pm on the fourth floor of the library (building 305). The event is free and open to the public. She will also be reading at Malaspina’s Cowichan campus on November 6 at 7 pm.

“People will be kicking themselves if they miss this reading,” added Ruzesky. “The best poets have something to say and the ability to say it well. And that’s what Marilyn Dumont does.”

Poets on Campus will also feature Baba Brinkman on April 8. Readings on Malaspina’s Cowichan campus will include Marilyn Dumont on November 6, John Barton and Rhonda Batchelor on February 12 and Cornelia Hoogland (date and time TBA). All readings are sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Malaspina will also be featuring open mic poetry readings on the Nanaimo campus on November 19 and December 3. The open mic readings are open to everyone, with poets limited to 3 poems or 5 minutes of material (maximum). The readings will take place on the fourth floor of the library in room 474.

For more information about Marilyn Dumont’s Nanaimo and Cowichan readings, Poets on Campus or the open mic readings, please contact Sara Wilson, student poetry coordinator, at 753-0520, or visit the website at www.viu.ca/poetsoncampus