Daphne Marlatt

Daphne Marlatt
Name	Daphne Marlatt
Birth date	1942-11-26
Birth place	Barking, Essex
Occupation	Poet, novelist, essayist, editor, teacher
Nationality	Canadian

Daphne Marlatt is a Canadian poet, novelist, editor, and essayist associated with experimental and feminist writing communities. She emerged in the late 20th century within networks including the Vancouver poetry scene, small press movements, and Canadian literary institutions. Her work intersects with subjects such as identity, landscape, and historiography while engaging with international literary conversations.

Early life and education

Marlatt was born in Barking, Essex and emigrated to Canada during childhood, becoming part of diasporic narratives shared with writers like Michael Ondaatje, Mavis Gallant, Leon Rooke, David Adams Richards, and George Elliott Clarke. She studied at institutions such as University of British Columbia, where connections formed with faculty and students linked to Vancouver School of Art and movements resonant with figures like Earle Birney, BP Nichol, Patricia Hackett, Robin Blaser, and Jack Spicer. Her formative years intersected with cultural sites including British Columbia, Vancouver, Richmond, British Columbia, and literary hubs such as Toronto and Montreal.

Literary career and major works

Marlatt's career encompasses poetry, prose, and edited anthologies, positioning her alongside contemporaries like Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Anne Carson, bpNichol, and Michael Redhill. Major publications include the novel-length poem "Ana Historic" and the book "Steveston", works often situated in dialogue with texts by Adrienne Rich, H.D., Gertrude Stein, Robert Kroetsch, and Marlene NourbeSe Philip. She contributed to journals and presses connected to Coach House Press, Véhicule Press, Talonbooks, Talonbooks, McClelland & Stewart, House of Anansi, and small presses associated with editors like bill bissett and Earle Birney. Her editorial projects and collaborations brought attention to poets such as Michael Ondaatje, Dora Malech, Jan Zwicky, Lorna Crozier, and Fred Wah.

Themes and style

Marlatt's themes interact with canonical and activist traditions exemplified by writers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Hélène Cixous, and Julia Kristeva. Her stylistic strategies recall experimental practices of Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, T. S. Eliot, and John Ashbery, while engaging with regional chronicles akin to Vancouver School (poetry), Canadian modernism, and movements including Second-wave feminism, Eco-criticism, and postcolonial studies. She foregrounds place-based inquiry referencing Steveston, Fraser River, Gulf Islands, Coast Salish territories, and histories tied to Japanese Canadian internment, Canadians of British Isles descent, and settler-indigenous encounters explored alongside scholars from Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and University of British Columbia. Her work frequently uses techniques related to fragmentation, lyric narrative, and intertextuality seen in work by Paul Celan, Susan Howe, Jack Spicer, and bpNichol.

Editing, teaching, and publishing contributions

Marlatt has taught and mentored in programs at Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, and community workshops connected to organizations such as Vancouver Public Library, The Writers' Union of Canada, League of Canadian Poets, and the BC Civil Liberties Association. She edited anthologies and issues in collaboration with editors from Coach House Press, Talonbooks, and literary magazines like Canadian Literature, The Capilano Review, Caterpillar, Room, and Brick Magazine. Her publishing work intersected with editors and publishers such as Dionne Brand, Marnie Parsons, Linda Rogers, Eleanor Wachtel, and Margaret Christakos, supporting voices including Cecily Nicholson, Nalo Hopkinson, Rita Wong, and Lisa Robertson.

Awards and honours

Her honours recall awards and institutions like the Governor General's Award, Order of Canada, BC Book Prizes, Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, Pat Lowther Award, Griffin Poetry Prize, and fellowships associated with Canada Council for the Arts and academic residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, and The Banff Centre. She has been recognized in lists and retrospectives alongside laureates such as E. J. Pratt, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Dionne Brand, and P.K. Page.

Personal life and legacy

Marlatt's personal associations and collaborations link her to communities around Vancouver, Steveston, Gulf Islands, and institutions including Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia. Her influence is evident in younger poets and scholars such as Rita Wong, Aisha Sasha John, Lorna Crozier, Ellen van Neerven, and editors related to Talonbooks and Coach House Press. Scholarly work on her writing appears in journals and volumes from University of Toronto Press, McGill-Queen's University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and academic conferences like those hosted by CACLALS and Modern Language Association. Her papers and archival materials are connected to repositories similar to University of British Columbia Library and regional archives preserving Canadian literary history.

Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian novelists