Research at 91亚色 is broader than books, journal articles, scientific findings or data sets. In the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, research can result in a piece of poetry that moves the soul.
Like the Greek poet Pindar, 91亚色 English Professor , an internationally acclaimed poet and novelist, is penning poems for Olympians, playing with such sporting terms as 鈥渁ir to fakie鈥, 鈥渞evert鈥, 鈥渟talefish air鈥 and 鈥減eel鈥, and transforming them into accessible poetry.
She is the Canadian Athletes Now Fund聽鈥 a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for Canadian athletes聽鈥 poet-in-residence聽during the , from Feb. 12 to 28, and Paralympic Games, from March 12 to 21. In between, she plans to head to the , which run from March 6 to 13 in Grande Prairie, Alta.
Left: Priscila Uppal
鈥淪o much about poetry is having surprising language and using it in unique ways,鈥 says Uppal (BA Hons. 鈥97, PhD 鈥04). So using snowboarding words like 鈥渃rail air鈥 and 鈥渆lgeurial鈥 will prove inspiring, challenging and fun. 鈥淭he sporting language itself is so athletic, it has so many symbols and metaphors to play with. I鈥檓 really looking forward to working with the language.鈥
She has already written a haiku for every sporting category at the Games. That includes skeleton, luge, curling and speed skating. 鈥淚 think people find it amusing when they hear them.鈥 Her goal for the haikus is to surprise even the athletes.
鈥淭his is poetry that can be popular, can be accessible to more people,鈥 says Uppal, who has penned six collections of poetry, including which was shortlisted for the 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize. She is also the author of two novels, (2002) and (2008). Recently, she edited the first-of-its-kind anthology (2009).
Uppal stands at the intersection where sports and poetry interact. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an untapped resource, sports language,鈥 says Uppal. And people respond to it. Sport and art touch the majority of people in some way, but you rarely see the two coming together. Uppal thinks it鈥檚 a missed opportunity to communicate.
As poet-in-residence, she sees her position as intersecting with two traditions, public poetry for heroic figures and events, and the celebration of the local and everyday. 鈥淧oetry about the ordinary and poetry about the extraordinary,鈥 she says.
Having a poet-in-residence writing about the Olympic Games may seem novel, but it is actually in keeping with a long, almost lost, tradition. That鈥檚 where Pindar comes in. He wrote odes to Olympians. And, there was a poet at the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. But the other way it reaches into tradition is through the games themselves. During the Olympics, from 1912 to 1948, medals were awarded for five categories of art. Two people won medals in both an art and a sporting event. Uppal would like to see art return to the Games as Olympic events, as she believes it has a place there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible, the power of sport and art to transform people鈥檚 lives, but we have to make the space available. This is a great intersection of sport and poetry鈥nd maybe it will transform more lives,鈥 says Uppal.
Take the Paralympics, for instance. These are people who were told they couldn鈥檛 do anything in their lives because of their physical disability, and they鈥檙e top athletes in their field. 鈥淚t is extremely invigorating and exciting to watch them compete,鈥 says Uppal.
Canadian athletes and artists, writers and聽poets share a commonality in their ability to transform and inspire, and they are all underfunded. Some of聽our Olympic contenders live with negative incomes, many rely on food banks and some have been known to live in their cars, says Uppal. At the same time, the country is having a health and obesity crisis, as well as a creative crisis. By bringing sport, art and funding together, there is potential to make a difference.
Her聽poems will be posted on the Web site, as well as聽's own Web site, which will also list links聽to other places where her Olympic poetry can be found. In addition, CBC Radio One will air some of her poems.
The Canadian Athletes Now Fund has helped to fund about 80 per cent of the athletes at the Games. Donations made to the fund go directly to the athletes to help pay for such basic necessities as nutrition, training and equipment costs, and the donor gets a list of which athletes received their donation.
Uppal will read her poems directly to the athletes and their families over the course of the Games. 鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 a wonderful,聽wonderful Canadian literary moment,鈥 she says.
By Sandra McLean, YFile writer
Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.