Biography
Sonnet L'Abbé, PhD was born in Toronto and spent their childhood in Calgary, in rural Manitoba, and in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. They got a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Video from York University and a Master's in English Literature at the University of Guelph, then spent time teaching English in South Korea. They wrote two books of poetry, A Strange Relief and Killarnoe, and worked in media relations and issues management before deciding to get their PhD in English Literature at UBC. They have since taught creative writing at U of T, UBC Okanagan and VIU. Sonnet was guest editor of the 2014 edition of Best Canadian Poetry, and were the 2015 Edna Staebler Writer-In-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University. Their chapbook, Anima Canadensis, won the 2017 bp Nichol Chapbook Award, and their most recent book of poems, Sonnet’s Shakespeare, was nominated for multiple awards and named a Quill and Quire Book of The Year for 2019. Their poetic practice has recently turned to songcraft and voice. Sonnet had a solo show of songs and poems at the Port Theatre in 2021, and they will be a keynote performer at the New Sonic Poetries conference in Toronto in 2024.
Teaching Philosophy
I like to teach writing and reading from three perspectives: as a craftsperson, as a literary critic and then as a human: a body on land. That means I want students to get a lot of practice with technique and I want them to understand that they're not writing in a bubble, that their work happens in the context of other writers, other forms of storytelling and in the context of world events. I make a point of including queer writers, Indigenous writers, writers of colour, trans writers and disabled writers on the reading lists of all my courses and to talking with my students about the relationship between what's popular, who gets represented, and who is in power. My classroom, I hope, is a place where everyone can be heard and feel heard, and where we can support each other and still disagree. My students teach me something new every term and I love the conversations I have with them. Being constantly challenged in the classroom makes me a better thinker and a better writer.
Sonnet's books at Penguin Random House
Email: sonnet.labbe@viu.ca