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Joseph
Dandurand 

Joseph Dandurand is the author of several books of poetry including SH:LAM, I Will Be Corrupted, and The Punishment. He was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize for The East Side of It All. Dandurand works as director of the Kwantlen Cultural Centre and is a member of the Kwantlen First Nation, located on the Fraser River about twenty minutes east of Vancouver.

Award History

Jury Citation

“Joseph Dandurand’s oeuvre is a marvel of witness, expressing tough, unflinching truths. The poet’s work dissects, re-configures and takes to task settler-colonialism; his quotidian reflections read like parables, with startling economy. Whether drawing from his own spiritual immortality of cultural initiation, or from his insightful perspective as a survivor of the streets, the author conjures lived-in worlds that resonate through action over sentiment. His voice blends the streetwise with the oracular. Dandurand’s instantly relatable poems are deep, deep dives into rhythms that build a history of survival in place, wise to all that’s frail, strong, funny, and hopeful.”