Congratulations from Artmob!

The Artmob project would like to congratulate Canadian Writers in Person for bringing their important video archive to the public. This collection is a testament to the creativity and dedication of both the authors and the organizers of the series, and we are proud to have played a part in its online presence.

Artmob is a York University-based research project dedicated to building accessible public archives of Canadian art. For more information visit us at www.artmob.ca.

Ramabai Espinet

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Born in the city of San Fernando in Trinidad in 1948, Espinet migrated to Canada in the 1970's. She worked as a taxi driver in order to pay for her education. She obtained her first degree from York University, and earned her PhD in Colonial Literature from the University of the West Indies.

In addition to her work as a poet and author of youth and adult fiction, Espinet is a noted academic and activist. She has written performance pieces which have been staged in Toronto, and contributes essays and commentaries to the newspaper Indo Caribbean World.

Her works of fiction and poetry explore themes related to her Indo-Caribbean roots and aims to re-assert the role of the Indo-Caribbean woman. Much of her writing is from the perspectives of culturally displaced women striving to obtain a balance. Focusing chiefly on issues of the influence of European empire on identity in Caribbean communities, Espinet’s work reflects her activist stance as a strong advocate for multiculturism.

Espinet currently resides in Toronto, where she teaches as a professor of English and Women’s Studies at Seneca College, York University, and the University of Toronto. She remains politically active for women’s social movements in the Caribbean as well as in Canada.

Bibliography
Nuclear Seasons (1991) poems
The Princess of Spadina (1992) children's book
Ninja’s Carnival (1993) children's book
The Swinging Bridge (2003)

Awards
Commonwealth Writers Prize Best First Book (Nominated, 2004) - for Swinging Bridge

Submitted by prathna on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 18:04.

Works in the Archive

Ramabai Espinet - Q & A

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Ramabai Espinet is author of the novel The Swinging Bridge, described by one critic as one woman’s saga of the Indo-Caribbean experience in Trinidad and Toronto. Her novel was long-listed for the 2005 IMPAC Dublin Award and short-listed for the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. In selecting The Swinging Bridge to be included in the 2004 Robert Adams Book Review Literature series, Adams noted, "It makes you itch to read. There can be no greater measure of success.”

Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:50.

Ramabai Espinet - Introduction

Ramabai_Espinet-Discussion.jpg

Ramabai Espinet is author of the novel The Swinging Bridge, described by one critic as one woman’s saga of the Indo-Caribbean experience in Trinidad and Toronto. Her novel was long-listed for the 2005 IMPAC Dublin Award and short-listed for the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. In selecting The Swinging Bridge to be included in the 2004 Robert Adams Book Review Literature series, Adams noted, "It makes you itch to read. There can be no greater measure of success.”

Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:49.

Ramabai Espinet - Reading

Ramabai_Espinet-Reading.jpg

Ramabai Espinet is author of the novel The Swinging Bridge, described by one critic as one woman’s saga of the Indo-Caribbean experience in Trinidad and Toronto. Her novel was long-listed for the 2005 IMPAC Dublin Award and short-listed for the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. In selecting The Swinging Bridge to be included in the 2004 Robert Adams Book Review Literature series, Adams noted, "It makes you itch to read. There can be no greater measure of success.”

Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:51.

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