Brian Brett (April 28, 1950 – January 17, 2024) was a celebrated Canadian poet, novelist, memoirist, journalist, and advocate for the literary community.
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Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Cockney father and Italian mother, Brett faced significant personal challenges from a young age due to Kallmann syndrome, a rare endocrine disorder that delayed puberty and shaped much of his early life. He explored these experiences candidly in his memoir Uproar’s Your Only Music (2004), which was named a Globe and Mail Book of the Year.
Brett studied literature at Simon Fraser University before dedicating himself fully to writing in the 1970s. He co-founded Blackfish Press in 1970, a small press that earned a Governor General’s Award, and inaugurated British Columbia’s Poetry-in-the-Schools program to bring poetry to students. A prolific journalist, he contributed to major Canadian publications, including The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Vancouver Sun.
Over his career, Brett authored more than a dozen books across genres, including poetry collections like The Colour of Bones in a Stream, novels such as The Fungus Garden (1988) and Coyote (2003), and acclaimed memoirs. His bestselling Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life (2009), drawn from his life on Salt Spring Island, won the Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction. His final memoir, Tuco and the Scattershot World (2015), reflected on his bond with his African grey parrot and themes of “otherness,” earning the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.
Brett’s contributions extended beyond writing: he served as chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada (2005–2006), was a member of PEN International and the League of Canadian Poets, and taught workshops nationwide. His accolades include the Matt Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement (2016) and the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence (2012).
Living on his beloved Salt Spring Island farm with his partner Sharon Doobenen, Brett was known for his sharp wit, passion for nature, and profound reflections on life, identity, and the environment. He passed away in 2024 at age 73, leaving a lasting legacy in Canadian literature.
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