Canisia Lubrin and Dionne Brand awarded Windham Campbell Prizes

The University of Guelph CW MFA is thrilled to congratulate alumna Canisia Lubrin and professor Dionne Brand—both among the 2021 Windham Campbell Prize laureates. Administered by Yale University, these prestigious literary prizes are awarded annually to eight international writers in the categories of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and drama, and gift each recipient with an unrestricted grant of $165k USD to support their writing.

It is particularly meaningful for us here at the MFA to note the community connection between these two literary talents. As a student in the program Canisia worked with Dionne on the manuscript of what would become her debut poetry collection, Voodoo Hypothesis. More recently, Dionne acquired and edited Canisia’s second book, The Dyzgraphxst, for McClelland and Stewart. Canisia has also grown as a mentor and community leader in her own right, co-hosting the Pivot reading series, editing poetry for Wolsak and Wynn, and teaching at OCAD and U of T. In something of a full-circle turn Canisia recently took the reins from Dionne as the editor of M&S’s poetry imprint.

CBC books has more information about all of this year’s winners, as well as links to Lubrin and Brand’s recent appearances on The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. Check it out here. The full history of the prize, and readings from recipients can be found at windhamcampbell.org.