Rivers Have Sources, Trees Have Roots

by Dionne Brand, Donnie Brand

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

As a young girl growing up in Trinidad, Dionne Brand submitted poems to the newspapers under the pseudonym Xavier Simone, an homage to Nina Simone, whom she would listen to late at night on the radio. Brand moved to Canada when she was 17 to attend the University of Toronto, where she earned a degree in Philosophy and English, a Masters in the Philosophy of Education and pursued PhD studies in Women’s History but left the program to make time for creative writing.

Dionne Brand first came to prominence in Canada as a poet. Her books of poetry include No Language Is Neutral, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, and Land to Light On, winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Award and thirsty, finalist for the Griffin Prize and winner of the Pat Lowther Award for poetry. Brand is also the author of the acclaimed novels In Another Place, Not Here, which was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Award, and At the Full and Change of the Moon. Her works of non-fiction include Bread Out of Stone and A Map to the Door of No Return.

What We All Long For was published to great critical acclaim in 2005. While writing the novel, Brand would find herself gazing out the window of a restaurant in the very Toronto neighbourhood occupied by her characters. “I’d be looking through the window and I’d think this is like the frame of the book, the frame of reality: ‘There they are: a young Asian woman passing by with a young black woman passing by, with a young Italian man passing by,” she says in an interview with The Toronto Star. A recent Vanity Fair article quotes her as saying “I’ve ‘read’ New York and London and Paris. And I thought this city needs to be written like that, too.”

In addition to her literary accomplishments, Brand is Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.

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Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really challenged and changed my perception of what academic literature can be. People's experiences and interviews as the foundation of an “academic” text shouldn’t be bizarre. The personal encounters with a culture of racism in all aspects of life (the everyday, through childhood, in the workplace), and the active resistance toward such a culture must be documented. Peace to Dionne Brand and Krisantha Sri Bhaggiyadatta for putting together this necessary Canadian account(s).

"Many of the respondents of 'Rivers Have Sources, Trees Have Roots' describe their experience of racism as being subtle but nonetheless as having a devastating effect on their lives. This subtlety or invisibility is a major feature of racism in Canada. It is, perhaps, Canada's home-grown variety".

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a community worker in the making in Toronto back in the mid 1980s this book was a fabulous resources to learn from because it is filled with stories - so many voices - speaking directly about experiences of and perceptions about racism right here in Toronto.

The voice of experience is so powerful - it trumps all others.

As Bob Marley said so well " who feels it, knows it" and this book is a source of voices of experience.

It was published by the Cross Cultural Communication Centre - a place I frequented a lot in the 1980s.