Leesa Dean
@leesadean.bsky.social
Poet and CWRT instructor, editor, community arts. Author of 2 books and some chapbooks; book 3 forthcoming from Gaspereau 2026. Lots of 📕ish tattoos. On Sinixt Territory in BC. www.leesadean.ca
I don’t take the bus anymore because I live in the middle of nowhere, but I find great joy in knowing that others get to be illuminated by poetry on their commutes! LOVE Poetry in Transit ❤️❤️❤️ @readlocalbc.bsky.social
↪Swipe to find out how place impacts these Poets’ work
Join us tomorrow from 2-3:30 PM @wordvancouver.bsky.social in Robson Square to hear readings from our featured poets! followed by discussion and Q&A.
Read the full interviews here:
www.readlocalbc.ca/2025/09/17/p...
Join us tomorrow from 2-3:30 PM @wordvancouver.bsky.social in Robson Square to hear readings from our featured poets! followed by discussion and Q&A.
Read the full interviews here:
www.readlocalbc.ca/2025/09/17/p...
Poetry on the Bus: Spot These 10 BC Poets on Your Next Ride
Celebrating 29 years of Poetry in Transit with a conversation with this year's selected BC poets.
www.readlocalbc.ca
October 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I don’t take the bus anymore because I live in the middle of nowhere, but I find great joy in knowing that others get to be illuminated by poetry on their commutes! LOVE Poetry in Transit ❤️❤️❤️ @readlocalbc.bsky.social
One year away from this honour and still going strong!
The You’re Still Doing This? award for poets aged 45-55
October 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
One year away from this honour and still going strong!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
October 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I love this series, How Does a Poem Begin. This just in from Em Dial: “It is the where that contributes to a poem’s possibility and how it opens up something in the reader. It is the where that decides which side of history the poem lies upon.”
newly posted at @periodicities.bsky.social : Em Dial : How does a poem begin? / @palimpsestpress.bsky.social ;
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/10/em-d...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/10/em-d...
Em Dial : How does a poem begin?
How does a poem begin? Looking at this question– How does a poem begin? – feels a bit like being trapped in a room with mirrors on...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com
October 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I love this series, How Does a Poem Begin. This just in from Em Dial: “It is the where that contributes to a poem’s possibility and how it opens up something in the reader. It is the where that decides which side of history the poem lies upon.”
It’s Friday night and I’m definitely taking about poetry 🙌🙌
my favorite topic of conversation is poetry. like, i'm not kidding! i want to talk about poetry on a friday night! i will! also, i love talking about food while eating different food
July 19, 2025 at 2:42 AM
It’s Friday night and I’m definitely taking about poetry 🙌🙌
Reposted by Leesa Dean
my favorite topic of conversation is poetry. like, i'm not kidding! i want to talk about poetry on a friday night! i will! also, i love talking about food while eating different food
July 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
my favorite topic of conversation is poetry. like, i'm not kidding! i want to talk about poetry on a friday night! i will! also, i love talking about food while eating different food
Reposted by Leesa Dean
“We’ll keep them in the ghetto as long as they want” Pierre Eliot Trudeau stated as his 1969 white paper on Indian policy was rejected by First Nations. Canada wants certainty for resource extraction. This is why they’re in a rush to legislate First Nations inherent rights under crown sovereignty.
As @terrilltf.bsky.social reminds, the Chrétien/Martin budget imposed the 2% cap on all Indigenous spending which warped a lot (from education to health to social spending) for First Nations communities in Canada.
And now this, which is way worse. Liberals are amazing colonizers.
And now this, which is way worse. Liberals are amazing colonizers.
Indigenous services will be hit hard. A stunning $4.5 bil in cuts, 1 of 5 dollars in cuts is just reduced transfers to First Nations to provide police, ed and health care. Gutting Indigenous social programs is not an "ambitions" way to find "savings". 3/x
www.datawrapper.de/_/pZ6Zq/
www.datawrapper.de/_/pZ6Zq/
July 18, 2025 at 5:11 AM
“We’ll keep them in the ghetto as long as they want” Pierre Eliot Trudeau stated as his 1969 white paper on Indian policy was rejected by First Nations. Canada wants certainty for resource extraction. This is why they’re in a rush to legislate First Nations inherent rights under crown sovereignty.
Reposted by Leesa Dean
This piece by @meghanor.bsky.social nails the big problem looming for literature and AI, and it isn't any of the problems (copyright, homework, slop, bias, energy) most people spend their time worrying about: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/o... A fantastic and well-informed essay.
Opinion | The Seductions of A.I. for the Writer’s Mind
www.nytimes.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:29 AM
This piece by @meghanor.bsky.social nails the big problem looming for literature and AI, and it isn't any of the problems (copyright, homework, slop, bias, energy) most people spend their time worrying about: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/o... A fantastic and well-informed essay.
Reposted by Leesa Dean
“Trump is using military forces to stop a protest — I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”
Doechii at the #BETAwards
Doechii at the #BETAwards
June 10, 2025 at 1:01 AM
“Trump is using military forces to stop a protest — I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”
Doechii at the #BETAwards
Doechii at the #BETAwards
Reposted by Leesa Dean
This is precisely correct.
June 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
This is precisely correct.
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Canisia Lubrin wins the 28th annual Danuta Gleed Award for her short fiction collection Code Noir #CanLit
writersunion.ca/news/winners...
writersunion.ca/news/winners...
Winners Announced for the 28th Annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award | The Writers' Union of Canada
writersunion.ca
June 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Canisia Lubrin wins the 28th annual Danuta Gleed Award for her short fiction collection Code Noir #CanLit
writersunion.ca/news/winners...
writersunion.ca/news/winners...
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Congratulations to Valérie Bah (Vehicule Press), winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award, and to Vicky Zhu, winner of the Youth Short Story Award. Check out our full coverage of this majestic evening here!
#AmReading #Novel #CanLit #ShortStory #Prizes
open-book.ca/News/The-Win...
#AmReading #Novel #CanLit #ShortStory #Prizes
open-book.ca/News/The-Win...
The Winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award Has Been Revealed!
The winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award is Valérie Bah, author of Subterrane (Esplanade Books/Véhicule Press), as revealed in yet another majestic ...
open-book.ca
June 6, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Congratulations to Valérie Bah (Vehicule Press), winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award, and to Vicky Zhu, winner of the Youth Short Story Award. Check out our full coverage of this majestic evening here!
#AmReading #Novel #CanLit #ShortStory #Prizes
open-book.ca/News/The-Win...
#AmReading #Novel #CanLit #ShortStory #Prizes
open-book.ca/News/The-Win...
The name for this essay came to me in a dream, so I followed that dream until I found Wordsworth above Tintern Abbey in the jaws of a goth snake… Intrigued? Thanks for reading! #poetry #essays #writing #canlit #writingcommunity
newly posted at @periodicities.bsky.social : Leesa Dean : Poetic Genesis: Goth Girl Swallows Wordsworth Like a Snake. / @leesadean.bsky.social ;
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/06/lees...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/06/lees...
Leesa Dean : Poetic Genesis: Goth Girl Swallows Wordsworth Like a Snake.
How does a poem begin? I’ve been reading the previous essays published here that respond to the question of how a poem b...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The name for this essay came to me in a dream, so I followed that dream until I found Wordsworth above Tintern Abbey in the jaws of a goth snake… Intrigued? Thanks for reading! #poetry #essays #writing #canlit #writingcommunity
Some days are random AF: in the past hour I have helped a dude push a 35 foot power pole down a bank into our backyard and edited a poem about the Neptune Equester. Now I feel like I should write a poem about a 35 foot power pole 🤣 #writing #poetry #rurallife
June 4, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Some days are random AF: in the past hour I have helped a dude push a 35 foot power pole down a bank into our backyard and edited a poem about the Neptune Equester. Now I feel like I should write a poem about a 35 foot power pole 🤣 #writing #poetry #rurallife
Someone asked me two days ago at an event why I write and I was like, to save myself. I think they were expecting more, but that is the most accurate three-word summary I can think of 🤷♀️ #blueskywriters #writingcommunity #writing
May 31, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Someone asked me two days ago at an event why I write and I was like, to save myself. I think they were expecting more, but that is the most accurate three-word summary I can think of 🤷♀️ #blueskywriters #writingcommunity #writing
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with these NeWest classics!!
#NeWestPress #AsianHeritageMonth #CanLit #CanadianLiterature #Canadian #AlbertaReads
#NeWestPress #AsianHeritageMonth #CanLit #CanadianLiterature #Canadian #AlbertaReads
May 30, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with these NeWest classics!!
#NeWestPress #AsianHeritageMonth #CanLit #CanadianLiterature #Canadian #AlbertaReads
#NeWestPress #AsianHeritageMonth #CanLit #CanadianLiterature #Canadian #AlbertaReads
Reposted by Leesa Dean
In Zilla Jones' novel, an opera singer gives a voice to the Grenada Revolution #CanLit
www.cbc.ca/books/booken...
www.cbc.ca/books/booken...
In Zilla Jones' novel, an opera singer gives a voice to the Grenada Revolution | CBC Books Bookends
She discussed The World So Wide on Bookends with Mattea Roach
www.cbc.ca
May 30, 2025 at 10:41 AM
In Zilla Jones' novel, an opera singer gives a voice to the Grenada Revolution #CanLit
www.cbc.ca/books/booken...
www.cbc.ca/books/booken...
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Congratulations to this year's #BertonHouse writers-in-residence!
◢ Jesse Keith Butler
◢ Cody Caetano
◢ Krista Foss
◢ Helen Knott
◢ Angela Long
◢ Rebecca Thomas
Learn more about this year’s residents here: bit.ly/4k3schN
#CanLit #PierreBerton
◢ Jesse Keith Butler
◢ Cody Caetano
◢ Krista Foss
◢ Helen Knott
◢ Angela Long
◢ Rebecca Thomas
Learn more about this year’s residents here: bit.ly/4k3schN
#CanLit #PierreBerton
May 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Congratulations to this year's #BertonHouse writers-in-residence!
◢ Jesse Keith Butler
◢ Cody Caetano
◢ Krista Foss
◢ Helen Knott
◢ Angela Long
◢ Rebecca Thomas
Learn more about this year’s residents here: bit.ly/4k3schN
#CanLit #PierreBerton
◢ Jesse Keith Butler
◢ Cody Caetano
◢ Krista Foss
◢ Helen Knott
◢ Angela Long
◢ Rebecca Thomas
Learn more about this year’s residents here: bit.ly/4k3schN
#CanLit #PierreBerton
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Deadline: May 30. Poems in dialogue with other poems.
Edited by Kyeren Regehr @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social & @zoeidadickinson.bsky.social
planetearthpoetry.com/after?ss_sou...
#canpoetry #canlit
Edited by Kyeren Regehr @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social & @zoeidadickinson.bsky.social
planetearthpoetry.com/after?ss_sou...
#canpoetry #canlit
May 27, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Deadline: May 30. Poems in dialogue with other poems.
Edited by Kyeren Regehr @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social & @zoeidadickinson.bsky.social
planetearthpoetry.com/after?ss_sou...
#canpoetry #canlit
Edited by Kyeren Regehr @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social & @zoeidadickinson.bsky.social
planetearthpoetry.com/after?ss_sou...
#canpoetry #canlit
Reposted by Leesa Dean
“Death steals everything except our stories.”
― Jim Harrison
― Jim Harrison
May 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
“Death steals everything except our stories.”
― Jim Harrison
― Jim Harrison
Bid your hearts out for an important cause and a jazzed up bookshelf!
Check out this auction fundraiser, with all funds going towards eSims to help Palestinians in Gaza stay connected with each other and the rest of the world. My most recent book (+extras) is there along with lots of amazing fiction, poetry, memoir, etc: tinyurl.com/authors4esims
May 13, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Bid your hearts out for an important cause and a jazzed up bookshelf!
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Two recent titles: Natalie Rice's Nightjar and Sean Howard's Overlays
May 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Two recent titles: Natalie Rice's Nightjar and Sean Howard's Overlays
Reposted by Leesa Dean
Two most recent spring titles: John Terpstra's A Carpentry of Words and Wood and Sue Goyette's Future Howl
May 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Two most recent spring titles: John Terpstra's A Carpentry of Words and Wood and Sue Goyette's Future Howl
Reposted by Leesa Dean
We've a wonderful excerpt up from Saad Omar Khan's Drinking the Ocean at the Miramichi Reader:
miramichireader.ca/2025/05/exce...
miramichireader.ca/2025/05/exce...
Excerpt: Drinking the Ocean by Saad Omar Khan
Excerpted with permission from Wolsak & Wynn Press
miramichireader.ca
May 12, 2025 at 2:16 PM
We've a wonderful excerpt up from Saad Omar Khan's Drinking the Ocean at the Miramichi Reader:
miramichireader.ca/2025/05/exce...
miramichireader.ca/2025/05/exce...