Dionne Brand

As a young girl growing up in Trinidad, DIONNE BRAND submitted poems to the newspapers under the pseudonym Xavier Simone, an homage to Nina Simone. She moved to Canada at age 17 and earned a degree in Philosophy and English, a Masters in the Philosophy of Education, and pursued PhD studies in Women's History but left the program to make time for creative writing.

Brand won the Governor General's Award for poetry and the Trillium Award in 1997 for Land to Light On. In 2003 she won the Pat Lowther Award for poetry for her book thirsty. Her novels include In Another Place, Not Here and At the Full and Change of the Moon. She lives in Toronto.