Dr. Gillian Sze

Gillian Sze is the author of multiple poetry collections, including Peeling Rambutan, Redrafting Winter, and Panicle, which were all finalists for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Her latest book, Quiet Night Think, received the 2023 Pat Lowther Memorial Award. It was also shortlisted for the QWF’s A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry and was part of the Jury Selection for the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal. 

Gillian has written six books for children, including My Love For You Is Always, You Are My Favorite Color, and The Little Green Envelope. Her debut picture book, The Night Is Deep and Wide, was listed as one of the Best Books for Kids in 2021 by the New York Public Library. Her work has been translated into Slovenian, French, Italian, Turkish, Hebrew, Spanish, and Greek. 

Education

PhD (Université de Montréal)
BA, MA (Concordia University)

Courses

ENGL 210: Introduction to Essay Writing
ENGL 225: Intro to Creative Writing (Poetry)
ENGL 244: Quebec/Montreal Writing in English
ENGL 348: Creative Writing: Poetry
ENGL 379: Contemporary Canadian Poetry
ENGL 429: Non-Western Poetics
ENGL 453: Anne Carson

Books

Quiet Night Think, ECW Press, 2022
Panicle, ECW Press, 2017
Redrafting Winter, BuschekBooks, 2015
Peeling Rambutan, Gaspereau Press, 2014
The Anatomy of Clay, ECW Press, 2011
Fish Bones, DC Books, 2009

Picture Books

I Drew a Heart, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023
The Little Green Envelope, Groundwood, 2023
When Sunlight Tiptoes, Orca Book, 2023
You Are My Favorite Color, Philomel (Penguin USA), 2022
The Night is Deep and Wide, Orca Book, 2021
My Love For You is Always, Philomel (Penguin USA), 2021

Chapbooks

Fricatives, Gaspereau Press, 2015
Allow Me to Conjugate, Withwords Press, 2010
A Tender Invention, Withwords Press, 2008
This is the Colour I Love You Best, Withwords Press, 2007

Articles & Chapters

"Erring and Whatever" in Anne Carson / Antiquity (ed. Laura Jansen), Bloomsbury, 2021.
"The Consolatory Fold: Anne Carson's Nox and the Melancholic Archive" in SCL/ÉLC (Vol. 44, No. 1) 2019.

Other Works

A Drownful Brilliance of Wings (short film, 2016 / 8 min / Canada / English / 1.37:1); directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz, based on the poem “Arriving." Supported by Main Film and LIFT.

Selected Past Appearances

April 2024: The Frye Festival, Moncton, NB
September 2023: Eden Mills Writers' Festival, Eden Mills, ON
May 2023: LiterASIAN, Vancouver, BC
April 2023: Escuela de Otoño de Traducción Literaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina
September 2022: Kingston WritersFest, Kingston, ON 
September 2022: Eden Mills Writers' Festival, Eden Mills, ON
June 2022: Festival de la Poésie de Montreal. Grande bibliothèque de Montréal. 
May 2022: Canadian Children's Book Week 2022: Sail into Stories/Tournée Lire à tout Vent. Online.
October 2021: “La vie…comme les chansons / Life…as a Song.” Heritage Canada & Blue Metropolis. 
July 2021. "We are AAPI Creators" - Panel. SLJ Picture Book Palooza. Online. 
May 2020. Poetry London Digital Reading Series.
March 2019: VerseFest, Ottawa, ON
April 2018: The Ottawa International Literary Festival, Ottawa, ON
April 2018: The Frye Festival, Moncton, NB
September 2017: The Word on the Street Festival, Toronto, ON
August 2017: Days of Poetry and Wine, Ptuj, Slovenia

Concordia

Faculty representative, Subcommittee for Anti-Asian Racism 

Community

Board of Directors, Quebec Writers' Federation 

Professional Memberships

ACCUTE
The Writers' Union of Canada
League of Canadian Poets
Quebec Writers' Federation
CANSCAIP
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
The Canadian Children's Book Centre