Sylvia Legris
Encyclopedia
Sylvia Legris is a Canadian
poet
.
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba
, she now lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
. She has published three volumes of poetry, the third of which, Nerve Squall, won the 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize
and Pat Lowther Award
.
Legris has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize
, Best of the Small Presses Series and in 2001 won The Malahat Reviews Long Poem Prize for Fishblood Sky. Legris also received an Honourable Mention in the poetry category of the 2004 National Magazine Awards.
Legris' poetry implicates the reader in semiotic rhythms of abjection which resonate with the historical condition of nihilism. In this sense, she accomplishes the tracing of nihilism of Adorno's aesthetics. Like Beckett, her negation of the relations of domination involves a parallel reality suffused with a wicked sense of humour.
Legris may be considered a modernist poet, having studied with Di Brandt and Betsy Warland at important stages in her development as a writer. While feminism and eastern thought are components of her intellectual genealogy, her most disciplined activity of textual study has been a sustained reading of Paul Celan. Like Celan, Legris is capable of responding to the cellular resonances of language in order to find reality through the language of the poem.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, she now lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
. She has published three volumes of poetry, the third of which, Nerve Squall, won the 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
and Pat Lowther Award
Pat Lowther Award
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
.
Legris has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
, Best of the Small Presses Series and in 2001 won The Malahat Reviews Long Poem Prize for Fishblood Sky. Legris also received an Honourable Mention in the poetry category of the 2004 National Magazine Awards.
Works
- ash petals (chapbook) 1996
- Circuitry of Veins 1996
- Iridium Seeds 1998
- Nerve Squall 2005 - (winner of 2006 Pat Lowther AwardPat Lowther AwardThe Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
, winner of the 2006 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
, shortlisted for Saskatchewan Book Award)
Legris' poetry implicates the reader in semiotic rhythms of abjection which resonate with the historical condition of nihilism. In this sense, she accomplishes the tracing of nihilism of Adorno's aesthetics. Like Beckett, her negation of the relations of domination involves a parallel reality suffused with a wicked sense of humour.
Legris may be considered a modernist poet, having studied with Di Brandt and Betsy Warland at important stages in her development as a writer. While feminism and eastern thought are components of her intellectual genealogy, her most disciplined activity of textual study has been a sustained reading of Paul Celan. Like Celan, Legris is capable of responding to the cellular resonances of language in order to find reality through the language of the poem.