Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai, photo supplied
The University of Winnipeg’s Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, has been selected as the 2019–20 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary. As Writer-in-Residence, she will be engaging with emerging writers while working on her collection of short stories, Blue Kara. The residency also includes public readings and lectures across the city of Calgary.
No stranger to engaging community, Ruprai is a poetry editor for Contemporary Verse 2, a national poetry journal housed in Winnipeg, where she started workshops for emerging Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) creative writers. These workshops have become extremely popular and are in high demand.
Ruprai looks forward to spending time on her writing and building relationships between the writing communities in Winnipeg and Calgary.
“Working with new and emerging writers is always exciting,” said Ruprai.
Recognizing the demand to engage the BIPOC community, she plans to extend these workshops in Calgary to continue to build connections and collaborations with diverse writing communities.
Ruprai begins her residency this September and returns to UWinnipeg in July 2020.
“Dr. Ruprai is a celebrated poet and researcher with a long history of contributing to literary communities and creating space for BIPOC writers,” said Dr. Roewan Crowe, UWinnipeg Chair, women’s and gender studies. “Her appointment to this distinguished residency speaks to her literary and scholarly accomplishments. We know that her time at the University of Calgary will influence the international writing community as well as benefit her own creative and pedagogical praxis. This is a phenomenal opportunity and I know she will bring back with her ideas that will enrich Winnipeg’s university and literary community. I am excited for her!”
Ruprai is an assistant professor at UWinnipeg, her alma mater. Her debut poetry collection, Seva, was a finalist for the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry by the Alberta Literary Awards. Her poetry is featured in a number of anthologies: GUSH: Menstrual Manifestos for Our Time, The Calgary Renaissance, Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets, and Exposed. She has a second book, Pressure Cooker Love Bomb, which is a collection of poetry.
