Priscila Uppal
Priscila Uppal FRSC (October 30, 1974 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright. Her poetry addressed various social issues regarding "women, violence, sexuality, culture, religion, illness and loss."
Priscila Uppal

Writers' Trust · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Priscila Uppal
- Born
- 30 October 1974
- Birthplace
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Died
- 5 September 2018
- Place of death
- Toronto, Ontario
- Occupation
- Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Professor
- Nationality
- Canada
- Education
- Hillcrest High School · York University · University of Toronto
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Priscila Uppal FRSC (October 30, 1974 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright. Her poetry addressed various social issues regarding "women, violence, sexuality, culture, religion, illness and loss."
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wikidata · Q7245567 · wikipedia · Priscila Uppal
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Priscila Uppal • Honorific Suffix — FRSC • Born — 30 October 1974 • Birthplace — Ottawa, Ontario • Died — 5 September 2018 • Place of death — Toronto, Ontario • Occupation — Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Professor • Alma Mater — York University (BA. Hons; Ph.D) University of Toronto (MA) • Discipline — English studies • Workplaces — York University
Personal life and career
Personal life and career
Uppal was born in Ottawa, Ontario, she graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1993. She earned her Honours Bachelor of Arts from York University in 1997, a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. from York University in 2004. Following graduation, she was a professor in the Department of English at York University in Toronto and taught literature and creative writing. In 2007, her book of poetry Ontological Necessities was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Uppal's poetry collection Pretending to Die (2001) was shortlisted for the ReLit Award, and her memoir Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction in 2013. She served as the first poet-in-residence for the Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament in 2011. She was also the Olympic poet-in-residence at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. As a result of her role as the poet-in-residence for the London Summer Olympics, she was dubbed "Canada's coolest poet" by Time Out London magazine. Uppal also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016. Uppal died of synovial sarcoma on September 5, 2018 after being diagnosed with the disease three years prior.
Poetry
Poetry
• How to Draw Blood From a Stone, Exile Editions, Ltd. 1998.. • Confessions of a Fertility Expert, Exile Editions, Ltd. 1999.. • Pretending to Die, Exile Editions, Ltd. 2001.. • Live Coverage, Exile Editions, Ltd. 2003.. • Cover Before Striking, Lyricalmyrical Press, 2004, • Holocaust Dream, MacLaren Arts Centre, 2005, (photographs by Daniel Ehrenworth) • Ontological Necessities, Exile Editions, Ltd. 2003.. • Traumatology, Exile Editions, 2010, • Winter Sport: Poems, Mansfield Press, 2010, • Successful Tragedies, Bloodaxe Books, 2010,
Fiction
Fiction
• The Divine Economy of Salvation, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2002; Doubleday Canada, 2003, • To Whom It May Concern, Doubleday Canada, 2009, • Cover Before Striking, Dundurn Press, 2015,
Non-fiction
Non-fiction
• We Are What We Mourn, McGill–Queen's University Press, 2009. • Projection, Dundurn Press, 2013,
Anthologies (as editor)
Anthologies (as editor)
• The Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories, Exile Editions, 2010, • The Exile Book of Poetry in Translation: Twenty Canadian Poets Take on the World, Exile Editions, 2009, • Barry Callaghan: Essays on his Works, Guernica, 2007, • Uncommon Ground: A Celebration of Matt Cohen – 2002 (edited with Graeme Gibson, Wayne Grady, and Dennis Lee) • Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets, Mansfield Press, 2004, (edited with Rishma Dunlop)
Anthologies (as contributor)
Anthologies (as contributor)
• Alphabet City 11: Trash • Body Language: A Head to Toe Anthology • Certain Things About My Mother: Daughters Speak • In the Dark: Stories from the Supernatural • Larger Than Life • Mentor's Canon: poems about / for / after writers • New Canadian Poetry • Writer's Gym
Plays
Plays
• What Linda Said • 6 Essential Questions
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ottawa.
Birth place
Toronto.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Priscila Uppal”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7245567: Priscila Uppal
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and honours
Uppal became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016. Awards for Uppal's writing • Year — Title — Award — Result — Ref. • 2001 — Pretending to Die — ReLit Award — Shortlist • 2007 — Ontological Necessities — Griffin Poetry Prize — Shortlist • 2013 — Projection — Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction — Shortlist • 2013 — Projection — Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction — Shortlist
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.York University. Priscila Uppal. Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. 24 May 2018.
- 2.Priscila Uppal | Canadian Writers in Person.
- 3.Priscila Uppal. Griffin Poetry Prize.
- 4.Davis, Charlene. Priscila Uppal. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2018-09-07.
- 5.Carter, Sue. Naomi Klein wins Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize. Quill and Quire. October 15, 2014.
- 6.Priscila Uppal Asian Heritage in Canada.
- 7.Poet Priscila Uppal dies at 43 — 'a genuine spirit is gone' The Star. thestar.com. 5 September 2018.
- 8.York University. Prof. Priscila Uppal elected as Fellow to Royal Society of Canada. September 9, 2014.
- 9.CBC Books. Priscila Uppal, Canadian poet, dead at 43. September 5, 2018.
- 10.Past GGBooks winners and finalists. Governor General's Literary Awards.
- 11.What Linda Said. Summerworks Performance Festival.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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