Brian Brett

SS undefined

Brian Thomas Brett (born in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 28, 1950) is a Canadian poet and novelist.

Life
He studied literature at Simon Fraser University from 1969 to 1974. Writing and publishing since the late 1960s, he has also been involved in an editorial capacity with several publishing firms such as the GovernorGeneral's Award winning Blackfish Press.

In the early 1970s, he began working as a freelance journalist and critic for various publications and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Vancouver Sun, The New Reader, Books in Canada, the Victoria Times-Colonist and the Vancouver Province (where he was the poetry critic for two years, and had his own column). His journalism has appeared in almost every major newspaper in Canada, and his essays in most of the major magazines. He is currently writing a monthly newspaper column called CultureWatch for the Yukon News.

Brett inaugurated the B.C. Poetry-in-the-Schools program, introducing children in schools to world poetry for a period of several years, and has taught or given workshops on writing across Canada. He has been a member of organizations ranging from P.E.N. International, the League of Canadian Poets, the Federation of BC Writers, to the Writers' Union of Canada. While a member of the League of Canadian Poets he performed a national reading tour under their auspices. He has also given readings on CBC Radio and various other media as well as public performances funded by private organizations, universities, Harbourfront, Vancouver International Writers Festival, Saltwater Festival, Sechelt Writers' Festival, Wordfest: Banff Calgary International Writers Festival, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, National Book Festival, and the Canada Council. In May 2005, Brett became chair of the Writers' Union of Canada.

He lives on his farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

Writing
In his 2004 memoir Uproar's Your Only Music, Brett wrote about growing up with a rare endocrine disorder known as Kallmann syndrome, meaning that his body does not naturally produce sex hormones. By the age of 20, he had still not entered puberty, and was believed by his parents and doctors to be intersex until his Kallmann diagnosis. He began taking testosterone in adulthood.

Recognition
In November 2009, Brett won Canada's Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize for Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life. The book describes a typical day in the life of his farm, with insight into the natural history of farming. The jury called the book "a lively, well-researched blend of memoir and socio-political commentary; a rare celebration of youth, age, and the tumultuous, surprising journey between them. The Writers' Trust of Canada 2009 Non-fiction Prize

Publications

 * Fossil Ground at Phantom Creek - 1976
 * Smoke Without Exit - 1984
 * Evolution in Every Direction - 1987
 * The Fungus Garden - 1988
 * Tanganyika - 1991
 * Poems: New and Selected - 1993
 * Allegories of Love and Disaster - 1993
 * The Colour of Bones in a Stream - 1998
 * Coyote - 2003 ISBN 1-894345-53-3
 * Uproar's Your Only Music - 2004 ISBN 1-55096-607-3
 * Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life - 2009 ISBN 978-1-55365-474-2

Audio / video

 * Night Directions for the Lost- The Talking Songs of Brian Brett (audio). Tongue & Groove Records. 2003
 * He is a robot. - 2009