Stir Q&A: Vancouver poet Joseph Dandurand on pain, the positives of isolation, and being shortlisted for 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize
The Kwantlen First Nation member and artistic director of Verses Festival of Words gains global recognition for his latest poetry book, The East Side of It All
Joseph Dandurand, author of The East Side of It All, writes a poem every single day.
STORYTELLER, PLAYWRIGHT, POET, and Kwantlen First Nation member Joseph Dandurand has been writing for three decades. He writes a poem every single day. Now, the artistic director of Vancouver Poetry House—which hosts the annual Verses Festival of Words—is being recognized on an international scale. Dandurand, a father of three and director of the Kwantlen Cultural Centre, has been shortlisted the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize for The East Side of It All (Nightwood Editions).
The collection is made up of the kind of riveting poems that stops you in you tracks. Dandurand plumbs the depths of his own hell, whether it was being beaten up by older kids when he was four, doing heroin on the streets of the Downtown Eastside, or remembering relations who have gone missing. (There’s even a poem about the notorious pig farmer.) He describes suffering, ugliness, and pain in a way that’s raw, real, unsensational, and empathetic, his words so gripping you might find yourself reading the entire collection in a single sitting.
The Griffin Prize is one of the world’s most generous and esteemed literary awards. Based in Canada and founded in 2000 by chair Scott Griffin along with trustees Margaret Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson, and David Young, the Griffin Trust supports poetry through its annual prize. The awards consist of literary prizes of $65,000 each and an additional $10,000 to each shortlisted poet. A Canadian prize is given to a living poet resident in Canada while an international prize is given to a living poet from any country in the world.
This year, judges read 682 books of poetry, including 55 translations from 28 languages, submitted from 14 different countries. Winners will be announced on June 23.
Dandurand, Vancouver Public Library’s 2019 Indigenous storyteller in residence, has three other poetry books to his name: I Want (2015), Hear and Foretell (2015), and SH:LAM (The Doctor) (2015). The East Side of It All is on the shortlist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, which is awarded as part of the B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes. (Winners will be announced on September 18.)
With Verses now underway and the Griffin shortlist having just been announced, Stir connected with Dandurand to hear more about his life, work, and words. This interview has been slightly condensed and edited.
One of the parts of The East Side of It All that struck me was in “This Is my Path”, where you write about the pain you can see in the eyes of a stranger who bummed a cigarette then almost walked away with your lighter. You have experienced so much hardship in your own life and express so much love. Where do you suppose your compassion comes from?
I think it comes from also being abused when I was a small boy. You carry that with you, and it is always with me even today at 56. It is many things but it is mostly an emotion of something that hurts but you must carry on and you must forgive and not let it hurt you anymore.
Why poetry? When and how did you first discover the power and beauty of the written word?
I was studying to be a stage actor but I was not very good at it and I was not devoted to the craft so I began to write and at first I wrote monologues that I would perform in class and soon was led to poetry and I began the journey 30 years ago that I am still on today. I write one poem a day and I am 80 pages into a new manuscript. Poetry for me is a gift and I do not know where it comes from but it does and I cherish each word, each image, and each gift.
What does being shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize mean to you?
I have been writing for 30 years now and I have never won an award. I have been shortlisted before and I think I am always the bridesmaid. But to honored with a chance to win Griffin is very cool. It is a bit of a challenge as you hope and wish and wait for the announcement. But for me I keep on writing every day and I keep cherishing the gift that was given to me to create words on paper. For me this means that perhaps I did write a good book and for me that is enough.
Where does poetry fit in the COVID-19 world of streaming and physical distancing? Has your work changed throughout the course of the pandemic?
I have done way too many Zoom reads. Some were good to go to and others are like some of the live poetry readings I used to go to—kind of a hit and miss. But I love to hear good poets give good readings. Zoom has allowed me to travel the world and share my words with people and share my words with places I would never have been heard.
I write to create stories and images and connections. I write poems to show just a little of what is truly inside my mind... which is sometimes terrifying.
I am a recluse and being isolated has always allowed me to write and live. I am raising three kids on my own and they are my world. They are the reason I use my gift of writing—for them. I love to fish and this time of year we are getting ready to fish for springs and I hope that I can catch one for supper.
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