Gwen Benaway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gwen Benaway | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987 (age 38–39) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
Gwen Benaway is a Canadian poet and activist. As of October 2019, she was a PhD candidate in the Women & Gender Studies Institute at the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto.[1] Benaway has also written non-fiction for The Globe and Mail and Maclean's.[2]
Benaway has spoken publicly about the healthcare system and transphobia.[3] Benaway has said, ″I guess I can't tell the difference between living and writing, the social and the political, the body and the voice, the binary and the limitlessness of my heart. I'm trans, and by that I mean I'm beyond what the world can contain."[4]
Benaway was one of the most prominent activists against the Toronto Public Library's decision to allow the feminist writer Meghan Murphy and the Radical Feminists Unite group to hold a speaking event at the library in 2019.[5] She protested against the event to express her objection to comments Murphy had made about transgender people and Murphy's opposition to the establishment of transgender rights legislation.[6] In an interview, Benaway said she had been "kettled in the library" by the Toronto police during the protest.[clarification needed][7]
Benaway has also advocated for Indigenous trans people.[8] She says she has Anishinaabe and Métis descent,[9] although her Indigenous identity has been questioned.[10]
Publications
Benaway's poetry reflects her experience as a transgender woman, and often speaks about the ongoing realities of colonial violence.[11] Scholar of LGBT and Two-Spirit Indigenous literatures Lisa Tatonetti described Benaway's work as "aesthetically beautiful" and wrote of Benaway's Passage that "while an incredibly personal book from a self-described feminist confessional poet, Passage, in its lyric beauty, its bravery, and its testament to survival and rebirth, is a gift to readers as well."[12] The peer assessment committee for the Governor General's Literary Awards described Holy Wild as "lyrical rhythmic and fierce. It was an extraordinary experience reading this burning, honest manifesto."[13]
Benaway has published three poetry collections to date, with one further announced:
- Benaway, Giles (2013). Ceremonies for the Dead. Chippewas of Nawash First Nation: Kegedonce Press. ISBN 978-0-9868740-5-5.[14]
- Benaway, Gwen (2016). Passage. Chippewas of Nawash First Nation: Kegedonce Press. ISBN 9781928120087.[15]
- Benaway, Gwen (2018). Holy Wild. BookThug. ISBN 9781771664394.
- Benaway, Gwen (2020). day/break. Book*hug.[16]
Benaway curated the following collection of short fiction:
- Benaway, Gwen (2019) Maiden, Mother, and Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes [17] ISBN 978-1-988715-21-6
Benaway's writing has been featured in the following collections:
- Love beyond body, space, and time: an Indigenous LGBT sci-fi anthology (2016) Winnipeg: Bedside Press ISBN 9780993997075
- NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American women (2017) Toronto: Annick Press. ISBN 9781554519576
- Refuse: CanLit in ruins (2018) Toronto: Bookhug. ISBN 9781771664332
