An Interview with Phillip Igloiorti
Phillip
Igloliorti is an Inuit writer originally from Nain, Labrador. As a child,
he experienced the tragedy of his mother's death, the break-up of his
family, and the victimization that comes from abuse. He has used writing
to confront and overcome the painful events of his youth. As Igloliorti
notes, "Writing was the gateway to freedom, a freedom that was
necessary for me to live life as a happy man.... I always say to people,
'words are the most powerful tools that man has inherited, as well as
the voice that goes along with them.'"
Igloliorti currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario. His chapbook,
Poems, was published in 1984, and his poems have appeared in
Poemata, Newmuse, and River Readings 2, an anthology published
by Broken Jaw Press. In 1996, he received a Canada Council for the Arts
First Peoples Literary Grant to write I Hope It Don't Rain Tonight,
his first full-length poetry collection. In its introduction, Seamus
Ò. Ceallaigh writes, "Devotees of the more Eurocentric strains
in Canadian poetry will find Igloliorti's verse so direct and conversational
as to challenge their perceptions of poetry. [His] intention is not
to use complex metaphors to pluralize meaning and lead readers into
deep but highly personalized imaginative experiences."
