AWARDS & CITATIONS for M. NourbeSe Philip -a summary
Awards Casa de las Americas prize for the manuscript version of the poetry book, She Tries Her Tongue... -1998 Tradewinds Collective (Trinidad & Tobago) Poetry –1^st prize, l988 Short Story –1^st prize, l988 Canadian Library Association Prize for children's literature, runner up, for Harriet's Daughter, - 1989 Max and Greta Abel Award for Multicultural Literature, first runner up for Harriet's Daughter, -1989 Guggenheim Fellow in poetry –1990 McDowell Fellow – 1991 Lawrence Foundation Award for the short story, "Stop Frame" published in the journal, Prairie Schooner - l995 Toronto Arts Award in writing and publishing –1995 Rebels for a Cause award, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto –2001 Woman of Distinction award in the Arts, YWCA -2001 Chalmers Fellowship in Poetry - 2002 Rockefeller Foundation residency in Bellagio, Italy -2005. Citations Who’s Who in Canadian Literature, Reference Press - from 1997-1998 Microsoft Encarta Africana , 2001 Who’s Who in Black Canada, Dawn P Williams – 2003 Black Heritage Month poster, 2002 “Book of the Month” -Alana's Trinbago Pages and the Bibliography of Creative Writing in Trinidad and Tobago “Spotlight Artist” RainTiger, October 2004 Microsoft Encarta Africana, 2001-entry *Philip, Marlene Nourbese* Philip, Marlene Nourbese (b. February 3, 1947, Tobago ) Canadian poet, novelist, and essayist known for experimentation with literary form and for her commitment to social justice. "English / is a foreign anguish," writes Marlene Nourbese Philip in her poem "Discourse on the Logic of Language" from She Tries her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks (1989). The poem examines the often brutal encounter of colonial subjects with the English language and its literature. Philip, through exploring what critic Barbara Fister has described as "the conundrum of language in a postcolonial context," works alongside fellow Canadian poets Dionne Brand and Claire Harris, and Caribbean writers Edward Kamau Brathwaite and Lorna Goodison. Scorned for its formal innovation and political engagement by publishers in Philip's adopted home of Canada, She Tries Her Tongue received the Cuban Casa de Las Americas prize in 1988 while still in manuscript form. The collection was eventually published in Britain. Salmon Courage (1983) and Thorns (1980) also engage the intersection of politics, language, and literary form; as does Looking for Livingstone: An Odyssey of Silence (1991) her narrative of a metaphoric return to Africa. Philip also writes children's literature and is a prolific essayist. Her novel for young adults, Harriet's Daughter (1988), written as a corrective to the absence of black characters in Canadian children's literature, suffered the same fate as She Tries her Tongue. Canadian presses, afraid that a black protagonist would not sell, rejected it before Heinemann published it in England. Philip's articles and essays collected in Frontiers (1992) and Showing Grit (1993), demonstrate a persistent critique and an impassioned concern for issues of social justice and equity in the arts, prompting Selwyn R. Cudjoe's assertion that Philip "serves as a lightning rod of black cultural defiance of the Canadian mainstream." More to the point is the epigram in Frontiers where Philip's dedicates the book to Canada, "in the effort of becoming a space of true be/longing." Though her writing suggests an in-depth understanding of the canon, Philip's career undoubtedly helped to free her from the constraints of tradition and to nurture her social analysis and criticism. She studied economics at the University of the West Indies before immigrating to Canada in 1968 and completing a Masters of Arts degree at the University of Western Ontario. In 1973 she became a practicing lawyer and subsequently worked for seven years at a legal clinic. Philips has taught at York University and the University of Toronto. She was a Guggenheim Fellow for poetry in 1990-1991 and in 1995 received the Toronto Arts Award for Writing and Publishing. Contributed By: Peter Hudson [1] [1]"Philip, Marlene Nourbese",Microsoft® Encarta® Africana Third Edition. © 1998-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

AWARDS & CITATIONS
for M. NourbeSe Philip -a summary

Awards

Casa de las Americas prize for the manuscript version of the poetry book, She Tries Her Tongue... -1998

Tradewinds Collective (Trinidad & Tobago) Poetry –1^st prize, l988
Short Story –1^st prize, l988

Canadian Library Association Prize for children's literature, runner up, for Harriet's Daughter, - 1989

Max and Greta Abel Award for Multicultural Literature, first runner up for Harriet's Daughter, -1989

Guggenheim Fellow in poetry –1990

McDowell Fellow – 1991

Lawrence Foundation Award for the short story, "Stop Frame" published in the journal, Prairie Schooner - l995

Toronto Arts Award in writing and publishing –1995

Rebels for a Cause award, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto –2001

Woman of Distinction award in the Arts, YWCA -2001

Chalmers Fellowship in Poetry - 2002

Rockefeller Foundation residency in Bellagio, Italy -2005.

Citations

Who’s Who in Canadian Literature, Reference Press - from 1997-1998

Microsoft Encarta Africana , 2001

Who’s Who in Black Canada, Dawn P Williams – 2003

Black Heritage Month poster, 2002

“Book of the Month” -Alana's Trinbago Pages and the Bibliography of Creative Writing in Trinidad and Tobago

“Spotlight Artist” RainTiger, October 2004

Microsoft Encarta Africana, 2001-entry

Philip, Marlene Nourbese

Philip, Marlene Nourbese (b. February 3, 1947, Tobago ) Canadian poet, novelist, and essayist known for experimentation with literary form and for her commitment to social justice.

"English / is a foreign anguish," writes Marlene Nourbese Philip in her poem "Discourse on the Logic of Language" from She Tries her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks (1989). The poem examines the often brutal encounter of colonial subjects with the English language and its literature. Philip, through exploring what critic Barbara Fister has described as "the conundrum of language in a postcolonial context," works alongside fellow Canadian poets Dionne Brand and Claire Harris, and Caribbean writers Edward Kamau Brathwaite and Lorna Goodison.

Scorned for its formal innovation and political engagement by publishers in Philip's adopted home of Canada, She Tries Her Tongue received the Cuban Casa de Las Americas prize in 1988 while still in manuscript form. The collection was eventually published in Britain. Salmon Courage (1983) and Thorns (1980) also engage the intersection of politics, language, and literary form; as does Looking for Livingstone: An Odyssey of Silence (1991) her narrative of a metaphoric return to Africa.

Philip also writes children's literature and is a prolific essayist. Her novel for young adults, Harriet's Daughter (1988), written as a corrective to the absence of black characters in Canadian children's literature, suffered the same fate as She Tries her Tongue. Canadian presses, afraid that a black protagonist would not sell, rejected it before Heinemann published it in England. Philip's articles and essays collected in Frontiers (1992) and Showing Grit (1993), demonstrate a persistent critique and an impassioned concern for issues of social justice and equity in the arts, prompting Selwyn R. Cudjoe's assertion that Philip "serves as a lightning rod of black cultural defiance of the Canadian mainstream." More to the point is the epigram in Frontiers where Philip's dedicates the book to Canada, "in the effort of becoming a space of true be/longing."

Though her writing suggests an in-depth understanding of the canon, Philip's career undoubtedly helped to free her from the constraints of tradition and to nurture her social analysis and criticism. She studied economics at the University of the West Indies before immigrating to Canada in 1968 and completing a Masters of Arts degree at the University of Western Ontario. In 1973 she became a practicing lawyer and subsequently worked for seven years at a legal clinic. Philips has taught at York University and the University of Toronto. She was a Guggenheim Fellow for poetry in 1990-1991 and in 1995 received the Toronto Arts Award for Writing and Publishing.

Contributed By: Peter Hudson [1]