Parasitic Oscillations, the second poetry collection from ecology professor Dr. Madhur Anand is a finalist for the 2023 Trillium Book Award for Poetry.
It is the second time Anand, professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, has been shortlisted for the prize. A New Index for Predicting Catastrophes was a finalist in for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2016.
“The Trillium Book Award for Poetry is Ontario’s highest literary honour, so I am obviously thrilled by this news,” Anand shared, calling Parasitic Oscillations a “very personal” book about ambiguous grief.
In Parasitic Oscillations, Anand draws from her experiences in both art and science as someone living between the cultures of North America and India. The collection was named a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book, a CBC top pick for spring 2022 and one of 14 essential Canadian reads for Earth Day.
“My work crosses divides between art and science on the one hand, and colonial histories and anti-colonial futures on the other,” she said. “I believe the pathways through our environmental crises will need to weave together different cultures and disciplines.”
Published in 2022 by Penguin Random House, Parasitic Oscillations is Anand’s third book, and second collection of poetry. In 2020 her memoir, This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart won a Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.
Kathy Friedman, a U of G alum who graduated from the creative writing program in 2013 and now teaches at Humber College, is also a finalist for All the Shining People, her debut collection of short stories that explores family, culture and identity, published by House of Anansi.
The Trillium Book Award, established in 1987 by the Government of Ontario, recognizes works of excellence in English and French by Ontario writers.
The award was created to honour books in all genres, support marketing and to increase public awareness of the quality and diversity of the province’s writers and writing.
The winner will be announced June 20 at a private ceremony in Toronto hosted by the CBC’s Heather Hiscox.
Contact:
Dr. Madhur Anand
manand@uoguelph.ca