Priscila Uppal

{{Short description|Canadian poet, novelist, and writer (1974–2018)}} {{Infobox academic | name = Priscila Uppal | honorific_suffix = [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada|FRSC]] | image = Priscilla Uppal.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1974|10|30}} | birth_place = [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|09|05|1974|10|30}} | death_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] | death_cause = | region = | nationality = | citizenship = | residence = | other_names = | occupation = Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Professor | period = | known_for = | home_town = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards =  | website = | education = | alma_mater = [[York University]] (BA. Hons; Ph.D) <br /> [[University of Toronto]] (MA) | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline = [[English studies]] | sub_discipline = | workplaces = [[York University]] | doctoral_students =  | main_interests = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Priscila Uppal [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada|FRSC]]''' (October 30, 1974 – September 5, 2018)<ref name=":1" /> was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[poet]], [[novelist]], fiction writer, and [[playwright]].<ref name=":1" /> Her poetry addressed various social issues regarding "women, violence, sexuality, culture, religion, illness and loss."<ref name=":1" />

==Personal life and career== Uppal was born in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], she graduated from [[Hillcrest High School (Ottawa)|Hillcrest High School]] in 1993. She earned her Honours [[Bachelor of Arts]] from [[York University]] in 1997, a [[Master of Arts]] degree in English from the [[University of Toronto]], and a [[Ph.D.]] from York University in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 May 2018 |title=Priscila Uppal |url=http://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/puppal/ |access-date=2019-03-08 |website=Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies |publisher=[[York University]] |archive-date=2019-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306031536/http://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/puppal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Following graduation, she was a professor in the Department of English at [[York University]] in [[Toronto]] and taught literature and creative writing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cwip.artmob.ca/contributors/priscilla-uppal |title=Priscila Uppal | Canadian Writers in Person |accessdate=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326140759/http://cwip.artmob.ca/contributors/priscilla-uppal |archivedate=2012-03-26 }}</ref>

In 2007, her book of poetry ''Ontological Necessities'' was shortlisted for the [[Griffin Poetry Prize]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Priscila Uppal |url=https://griffinpoetryprize.com/poet/priscila-uppal/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=Griffin Poetry Prize |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324085510/https://griffinpoetryprize.com/poet/priscila-uppal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Uppal's poetry collection ''Pretending to Die'' (2001) was shortlisted for the [[ReLit Award]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web |author=Davis |first=Charlene |last2=Mcintosh |first2=Andrew |date=2018-09-07 |title=Priscila Uppal |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/priscila-uppal |accessdate=2023-05-20 |website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |archive-date=2019-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215050317/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/priscila-uppal |url-status=live }}</ref> and her memoir ''Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother'' was shortlisted for the [[Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction]] in 2013.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Sue |date=October 15, 2014 |title=Naomi Klein wins Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize |work=[[Quill and Quire]] |url=https://quillandquire.com/awards/2014/10/15/naomi-klein-wins-hilary-weston-writers-trust-prize/ |access-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905215041/https://quillandquire.com/awards/2014/10/15/naomi-klein-wins-hilary-weston-writers-trust-prize/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She served as the first poet-in-residence for the Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/uppal/|title=Priscila Uppal {{!}} Asian Heritage in Canada|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-07|archive-date=2019-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308002928/https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/uppal/|url-status=live}}</ref> She was also the Olympic poet-in-residence at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and the 2012 London Summer Olympics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2018/09/05/poet-priscila-uppal-dies-at-44-a-genuine-spirit-is-gone.html|title=Poet Priscila Uppal dies at 43 — 'a genuine spirit is gone' {{!}} The Star|website=thestar.com|date=5 September 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-03-07|archive-date=2019-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416135021/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2018/09/05/poet-priscila-uppal-dies-at-44-a-genuine-spirit-is-gone.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result of her role as the poet-in-residence for the London Summer Olympics, she was dubbed "Canada's coolest poet" by Time Out London magazine.<ref name=":0" /> Uppal also became a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Canada]] in 2016.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |url=http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2014/09/09/prof-priscila-uppal-elected-as-fellow-to-royal-society-of-canada/ |title=Prof. Priscila Uppal elected as Fellow to Royal Society of Canada |publisher=York University |date=September 9, 2014 |accessdate=February 14, 2019 |archive-date=September 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915160706/http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2014/09/09/prof-priscila-uppal-elected-as-fellow-to-royal-society-of-canada/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Uppal died of [[synovial sarcoma]] on September 5, 2018<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/priscila-uppal-canadian-poet-dead-at-44-1.4811402 |title=Priscila Uppal, Canadian poet, dead at 43 |date=September 5, 2018 |accessdate=September 5, 2018 |publisher=[[CBC Books]] |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906015058/https://www.cbc.ca/books/priscila-uppal-canadian-poet-dead-at-44-1.4811402 |url-status=live }}</ref> after being diagnosed with the disease three years prior.<ref name=":1" />

==Awards and honours== Uppal became a [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada]] in 2016.<ref name=":4" /> {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" |+Awards for Uppal's writing !Year !Title !Award !Result !Ref. |- |2001 |''Pretending to Die'' |[[ReLit Award]] |Shortlist |<ref name=":1" /> |- |2007 |''Ontological Necessities'' |[[Griffin Poetry Prize]] |Shortlist |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2013 |''Projection'' |[[Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction]] |Shortlist |<ref name="Governor General's Literary Awards">{{Cite web |title=Past GGBooks winners and finalists |url=https://ggbooks.ca/past-winners-and-finalists |access-date=2021-11-27 |website=Governor General's Literary Awards |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421134720/https://ggbooks.ca/past-winners-and-finalists |url-status=live }}</ref> |- |2013 |''Projection'' |[[Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction]] |Shortlist |<ref name=":3" /> |}

==Bibliography==

=== Poetry ===

* ''How to Draw Blood From a Stone,'' [[Exile Editions|Exile Editions, Ltd.]] 1998. {{Isbn|978-1-55096-230-7}}. * ''Confessions of a Fertility Expert'', Exile Editions, Ltd. 1999. {{Isbn|978-1-55096-550-6}}. * ''Pretending to Die'', Exile Editions, Ltd. 2001. {{Isbn|978-1-55096-519-3}}. * ''Live Coverage'', Exile Editions, Ltd. 2003. {{Isbn|978-1-55096-571-1}}. * ''Cover Before Striking'', Lyricalmyrical Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-9736588-4-2}} * ''Holocaust Dream'', [[MacLaren Art Centre|MacLaren Arts Centre]], 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-9693555-9-5}} (photographs by Daniel Ehrenworth) * ''Ontological Necessities'', Exile Editions, Ltd. 2003. {{Isbn|978-1-55096-045-7}}. * ''Traumatology'', Exile Editions, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-55096-139-3}} * ''Winter Sport: Poems'', Mansfield Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-894469-49-4}} *''Successful Tragedies'', Bloodaxe Books, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-85224-860-4}}

=== Fiction === * ''[[The Divine Economy of Salvation]]'', [[Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill]], 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-56512-365-6}}; [[Doubleday Canada]], 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-385-65805-8}} * ''To Whom It May Concern'', Doubleday Canada, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-385-65993-2}} * ''Cover Before Striking'', [[Dundurn Press]], 2015, {{ISBN|978-1-459-72952-0}}

=== Non-fiction === * ''We Are What We Mourn,'' [[McGill–Queen's University Press]], 2009. {{Isbn|978-0-7735-3456-8}} * ''Projection'', [[Dundurn Press]], 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-77102-274-3}}

=== Anthologies (as editor) === * ''The Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories'', Exile Editions, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-55096-125-6}} * ''The Exile Book of Poetry in Translation: Twenty Canadian Poets Take on the World'', Exile Editions, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-55096-122-5}} * ''Barry Callaghan: Essays on his Works'', Guernica, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-55071-253-7}} * ''Uncommon Ground: A Celebration of Matt Cohen'' – 2002 (edited with [[Graeme Gibson]], [[Wayne Grady (author)|Wayne Grady]], and [[Dennis Lee (author)|Dennis Lee]]) * ''Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets'', Mansfield Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-1-894469-16-6}} (edited with [[Rishma Dunlop]])

=== Anthologies (as contributor) === * ''Alphabet City 11: Trash'' * ''Body Language: A Head to Toe Anthology'' * ''Certain Things About My Mother: Daughters Speak'' * ''In the Dark: Stories from the Supernatural'' * ''Larger Than Life'' * ''Mentor's Canon: poems about / for / after writers'' * ''New Canadian Poetry'' * ''Writer's Gym''

=== Plays === *''What Linda Said''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://summerworks.ca/artists/what-linda-said/|title=What Linda Said|website=Summerworks Performance Festival|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-03-08|archive-date=2018-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112230909/http://summerworks.ca/artists/what-linda-said/|url-status=live}}</ref> *''6 Essential Questions''

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Archival records}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uppal, Priscila}} [[Category:Canadian people of Indian descent]] [[Category:Poets from Ottawa]] [[Category:1974 births]] [[Category:2018 deaths]] [[Category:Canadian writers of Asian descent]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian poets]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian poets]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian novelists]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian memoirists]] [[Category:Canadian women dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Canadian women memoirists]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists]] [[Category:Deaths from synovial sarcoma]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Ontario]] [[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Ontario]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada]] [[Category:University of Toronto alumni]] [[Category:York University alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of York University]] [[Category:Novelists from Ottawa]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian women poets]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian women poets]]