ON THIS DAY

January 7, 1953

Poet, writer, and activist Dionne Brand was born in Guayaguayare, Trinidad. She came to Toronto in 1970, studying philosophy and English at the University of Toronto. Her innovative work, which pushes the formal and emotional bounds of fiction, dramatizes the lives of Caribbean women in their transplanted homes in Canada. Brand is also a committed activist, critiquing economic and political power structures, speaking against racism and discrimination against women, and working in support of gay and

lesbian communities.