
Deanna Young
English Poet Laureate 2019/20
Deanna Young is the author of four books of poetry. House Dreams (2014) was nominated for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, the Ottawa Book Award, the Archibald Lampman Award, and the ReLit Award. Her latest book, Reunion, was published in 2018. From 2008 to 2010, Deanna Young was an associate editor of Arc, Canada’s Poetry Magazine. She was artistic co-director of Ottawa’s Tree Reading Series from 2013 to 2016. Since 2016 she has offered a series of seminar-style poetry colloquiums in Ottawa, aimed at helping writers develop their own work. She also mentors writing groups, provides manuscript consultations, and works as an editor on a contract basis. A trained teacher, she has taught English and writing in schools at all levels and in the Professional Writing Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. She is active in the Poet in Class program of Poetry in Voice, leading poetry workshops in schools in the National Capital Region. Originally from southwestern Ontario, Deanna Young has lived in Ottawa since 2007. Prior to this she lived for extended periods in Montreal, Halifax and the Annapolis Valley (Nova Scotia), and Port of Spain, Trinidad. Visit her online at www.deannayoung.ca
Poetry Publications
- Reunion (Brick Books 2018)
- House Dreams (Brick Books 2014)
- Drunkard’s Path (Gaspereau Press 2001)
- The Still Before a Storm (Moonstone Press 1984)
Major Prizes and Other Distinctions
- Ottawa Poet Laureate (English), 2019 to 2021
- Writer-in-Residence: Open Book (open-book.ca), February 2019
- Finalist – Trillium Book Award for Poetry, 2015 (House Dreams)
- Finalist (Fiction) – Ottawa Book Award, 2015 (House Dreams)
- Finalist – Lampman Award for Poetry, 2015 (House Dreams)
- Long shortlist – Relit Award for Poetry, 2015 (House Dreams)
- Finalist (Poetry) – Malahat Review Open Season Awards, 2014
- Grand Prize – PRISM international Poetry Contest, 2013
- Two longlisted entries – CBC Poetry Contest, 2012
- 3rd Prize – Poem of the Year Contest (Arc Poetry Magazine), 2003 and 2002
- 2nd Prize – National Poetry Contest (League of Canadian Poets), 1998
- 1st Prize – Atlantic Writing Competition (Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia), 1996