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Poet and translator D. M. Bradford to launch 2025 911吃瓜 writer-in-residency
Poet and translator D. M. Bradford, the latest Ellen and Warren Tallman writer-in-residence, officially launches their 2025 term with 911吃瓜鈥檚 Department of English on October 2nd.
Bradford has already been offering writing consultations with 911吃瓜 community members and the public every Tuesday. While some people may be nervous about booking a meeting, Bradford says they should just expect an open discussion.
鈥淟argely, I want them to come prepared for a gentle and mostly directed-by-them conversation,鈥� Bradford says. 鈥淲e will discuss questions like, 鈥榃here are they headed with this kind of material?鈥� 鈥榃hat do they think is the future of this kind of work for them?鈥� 鈥榃hat are some of the things they鈥檙e struggling with?鈥� 鈥榃hat are some of the things they鈥檙e feeling pretty good about?鈥欌��
Bradford鈥檚 early poems also came from a place of vulnerability. They explored mental health issues like depression. However, they didn鈥檛 try to find solutions to their problems. Instead, they focused on finding their way through their emotions and trying to understand their feelings. In Bradford鈥檚 award-winning debut book of poetry, , they delve into the intergenerational trauma they experienced growing up and issues of race, gender, and more.
鈥淚 always approached writing the book from the perspective that these kinds of experiences are terribly commonplace,鈥� says Bradford. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they were unusual in the communities that I grew up in. I don鈥檛 think that they鈥檙e that unusual in any community.鈥�
People could indeed relate to their experiences and Dream of No One But Myself was popular with readers, which surprised Bradford.
鈥淲hen people write me, often they write me about that book,鈥� they say. 鈥淚t clearly continues to strike a chord. I鈥檓 grateful for that.鈥�
Bradford鈥檚 second book, , focuses on African American history. In it they examine the nature of history and how people 鈥渞esearch鈥� it, put it together, and make sense of what happened in the past. Bradford also examined how Black people today are connected to the history of enslavement.
鈥淭here are all kinds of big and little things in your life that you can directly connect back to those histories, so it feels very connected because it is,鈥� they say. 鈥淎lso, it鈥檚 very different. The givens of racism today aren鈥檛 that antebellum reality of social death, this given of having zero real personhood in even the letter of the law and the way the community thinks about you, the way the country thinks about you, etc.鈥�
During the residency, Bradford will continue to explore ideas like these and continue to work on a new book that they describe as 鈥渕ostly prose鈥搃t鈥檚 in that weird space somewhere between the novel and non-fiction and poetry.鈥� They鈥檒l also be working on translating a book of French poetry.
At their October 2nd reading and launch event, Bradford will be introduced by 911吃瓜 English professor Cornel Bogle. They will read from their work and give the audience an insight into their life as a writer. This will be followed by a catered reception.
Everyone is welcome to this free event. Please register or email: englcmns@sfu.ca