When and Where
Wednesday, October 08, 2025 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
D.G. Ivey Library
20 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1
Join us (U of T Centre for Caribbean Studies) for a captivating evening with renowned Jamaican writer, Olive Senior, at the D.G Ivey Library (University of Toronto). This event is a unique opportunity to hear from one of the most influential voices in Caribbean literature. Senior’s work delves into the rich tapestry of Jamaican culture, history, and identity, offering a perspective that is both insightful and thought-provoking. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect with a literary icon and hear a reading of the historical novel Paradise Once.
This event is presented by the Forum for Caribbean Writers and Readers and PEN Canada.
RSVP: Here!
Olive Senior is a prize-winning poet, author and independent scholar with over 20published books. Her work spans multiple genres, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature.
She lives in Canada and Jamaica and is widely travelled, her work and numerous honours and awards reflect her global citizenship. In 2025 these include the award of Jamaica’s Order of Distinction, a National honour, for her outstanding contribution to the literary arts. In 2024 she was named a Royal Society of Literature International Writer. Other awards include Canada’s Writers Trust Matt Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, honorary doctorates from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and York University, Canada, and the Gold Medal of the Institute of Jamaica.
Her latest work is the historical novel Paradise Once, seen through the eyes of the indigenous people of the Caribbean, the Taino. Also published in 2025 is her anthology of poems by Jamaican poets and photographs of trees titled Tree Seen, published by the National Library of Jamaica,a reflection of her commitment to environmental awareness as Poet Laureate of Jamaica 2021-2024. Other recent books include Hurricane Watch: New and Collected Poems and Pandemic Poems: First Wave.
Senior’s work has found worldwide resonance in numerous critical essays and translations and is taught in educational institutions at various levels. Most recently, Summer Lightning (her first book and winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize) was named one of the 70 outstanding books from the Commonwealth chosen to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. (bbc.co.uk\arts#BigJubileeRead). Her popularity as one of the Caribbean’s foremost writers was cemented when four of her books were included in the first compilation in 2021 of “The 100 Caribbean Books that Made Us” organised by the Bocas Literary Festival. She has been a writing mentor for many years, and has taught at various institutions in Canada, the Caribbean, the USA and Europe including the Humber School for Writers at Humber College.