Brett

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Lore & Background

Brett grew up with a rare endocrine disorder, Kallmann syndrome, which prevented his body from entering puberty; he later wrote a memoir about the effect this has had on his life. He attended Simon Fraser University between 1969 and 1974, studying literature. In the early 1970s, he worked as a freelance journalist and critic for The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Vancouver Sun, The New Reader, Books in Canada, and the Victoria Times-Colonist. He was a poetry critic and columnist for Vancouver's The Province. For ten years he wrote a monthly newspaper column called CultureWatch for the Yukon News. Brett inaugurated the B.C. Poetry-in-the-Schools program, which for several years introduced students to world poetry. In May 2005, Brett became chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. In 2004, he published a book, Uproar's Your Only Music, about his struggles with Kallmann syndrome. In November 2009, Brett won Canada's Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize for Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life. In 2016, the Writers' Trust of Canada awarded Brett the Matt Cohen Lifetime Award to honour his body of work.

In Their Own Story

Brett lived on his farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. He took testosterone to mitigate the effects of Kallmann syndrome, which included pain and osteoporosis. Brett died on January 17, 2024, at the age of 73. His bibliography includes Fossil Ground at Phantom Creek (1976), Smoke Without Exit (1984), Evolution in Every Direction (1987), The Fungus Garden (1988), Tanganyika (1991), Poems: New and Selected (1993), Allegories of Love and Disaster (1993), The Colour of Bones in a Stream (1998), Coyote (2003), Uproar's Your Only Music (2004), Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life (2009), The Wind River Variations (2012), and Tuco: The Parrot, the Others, and a Scattershot World (2015). He also released two discs: Night Directions for the Lost- The Talking Songs of Brian Brett (2003) and Talking Songs by Scattered Bodies (2014).

Reader's Guide

Brian Brett was a Canadian poet, journalist, editor, and novelist born on April 28, 1950. He began writing in the 1960s and studied literature at Simon Fraser University from 1969 to 1974. He worked as a freelance journalist and critic for major Canadian newspapers including The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Vancouver Sun. He was a poetry critic and columnist for Vancouver's The Province and wrote a monthly column called CultureWatch for the Yukon News for ten years. Brett inaugurated the B.C. Poetry-in-the-Schools program. He was a member of P.E.N. International, the Federation of BC Writers, the Writers' Union of Canada, and the League of Canadian Poets. In May 2005, he became chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. He won Canada's Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in November 2009 for Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life. In 2016, the Writers' Trust of Canada awarded him the Matt Cohen Lifetime Award. He lived on his farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, and died on January 17, 2024, at age 73.

Did You Know?

• Brian Brett was born on April 28, 1950 and died on January 17, 2024 at the age of 73.
• He grew up with Kallmann syndrome, a rare endocrine disorder that prevented his body from entering puberty.
• He won Canada's Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in November 2009 for Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life.
• In 2016, the Writers' Trust of Canada awarded Brett the Matt Cohen Lifetime Award.
• He lived on his farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.