Biography
Tyler Pennock is an adoptee from a Cree and Métis family around the Slave Lake area of Alberta. They write poetry, theatre, and creative non-fiction, all of which have appeared in collections in Canada, the US and France. Much of their current work looks closely at land, trauma, identity and the nature of memory. Their first book, Bones was released in April 2020, by Brick Books Publishing. Their second book, Blood, will be released in Autumn 2022. Tyler is also an educator, teaching youth, adult learners, college and university students in a variety of topics from sexuality to mathematics. Currently, they are a sessional lecturer at the Centre for Indigenous Studies in the University of Toronto, as well as a Instructor in the Indigenous Studies program at Fleming College. Occasionally, you'll find them teaching poetry for other local schools. They currently live in Toronto.
https://www.brickbooks.ca/books/bones/
Micro-interview
The man with the beautiful eyes by Charles Bukowski was the first poem I truly loved. I grabbed "The last Night of the Earth Poems" as well as Leonard Cohen's "Stranger Songs" from a second hand book store some time when I was 15. I still have them.
At around grade 6, when I wrote poetry for an English assignment instead of an essay.
Poetry is an act of relationship. And all relationships appear to have one major purpose (among others), and that is to change one's perception of the world.
I believe that in separating ourselves from nature we lose our humanity. I also feel that the natural world provides us a road map on how to live a good life - we only need to see it, and sit long enough to understand it.
Dionne Brand - from thirsty