World-renowned poet to speak at Atwater Library

March 2009

“The last thing I expected to end up doing was writing,” Nourbese Philip said. “What I wanted to be most of all was a spy, and after reading about spies in World War II, spying was much more real to me than writing.”

Philip is a poet, writer and lawyer who was born in Tobago and now lives in Toronto. Although primarily a poet, Nourbese Philip also writes both fiction and non-fiction. She has published three books of poetry, Thorns, Salmon Courage, and She Tries Her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks. Philip was the recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction award in the arts. “The experiences of Black women and girls are foremost in Nourbese’s works, as are issues of belonging, language, place and location,” her nominees said. Philip’s short stories, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in magazines and journals in North America and England.

Thursday, March 12 at 7pm Philip will read her poetry at the Atwater Library, 1200 Atwater. Admission is free. Info: 514-735-7344