Susan (Sue) Goyette (born 4 April 1964 in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) is a Canadian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Biography

Born in

, Goyette grew up in

Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River just east of Montreal. It lies on the west flank of Mont Saint-Bruno, one of the Monteregian Hill ...

, on

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

's south shore. Her first poetry book, ''The True Names of Birds'' (1998), was nominated for the 1999 Governor General's Award, the

Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by ...

and the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert. Each winner receive ...

. Goyette's first novel, ''Lures'' (2002), was nominated for the 2003

Thomas Head Raddall Award The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.

. She has also written another poetry collection, ''Undone'' (2004), and won the 2008 CBC Literary Award in poetry for the poem "Outskirts". The poetry collection of the same name, ''Outskirts'', won the Atlantic Poetry Prize in 2012. Goyette's fourth poetry collection, ''Ocean'', was published in 2013 by

Gaspereau Press Gaspereau Press is a Canadian book publishing company, based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield, the company's philosophy emphasizes "making books that reinstate the importance of the book as a ph ...

. Her fifth poetry collection, ''The Brief Reincarnation of a Girl'', was published in 2015 by Gaspereau Press. Goyette's collection ''Ocean'' is the recipient of the 2015

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the representative in Nova Scotia of the monarch, who Monarchy in Nova Scotia, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of ...

Masterworks Arts Award, which recognizes the excellence of a particular work of art or design from any media and carries a cash value of $25,000. Goyette has been a member of the faculty of The Maritime Writers' Workshop, The Banff Wired Studio, and The Sage Hill Writing Experience. Goyette was a judge for the 2017

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...

Personal life

She presently lives in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, and teaches at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

. In April 2020, she was named the city's eighth poet laureate. Her stepson, Colin Munro, currently lives in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he performs as a

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

under the name

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

, and was a competitor in the first season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

''.

Awards and honours

Her 2020 poetry collection ''Anthesis'' was shortlisted for the

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

for poetry in 2021, and

Georgette LeBlanc Georgette Leblanc (8 February 1869 – 27 October 1941) was a French operatic soprano, actress, author, and the sister of novelist Maurice Leblanc. She became particularly associated with the works of Jules Massenet and was an admired interpret ...

's French translation of Goyette's ''Ocean'' won the

Governor General's Award for English to French translation This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English-to-French translation awarded by the Governor-General of Canada. Winners and nominees 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s References {{Governor General's Literar ...

at the

2020 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2020 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on May 4, 2021, and the winners were announced on June 1.Kelley Aitken Kelley Aitken is a Canadian writer, visual artist, and art instructor. Aitken was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in Fine Arts. Her first book, a collection of short stories entitled ...

and Barbara Scott) * ''Outskirts'' (Brick Books, 2011) * ''Ocean'' (Gaspereau Press, 2013) (shortlisted for the 2014

) * ''The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2013'' (Tightrope Books, 2013) (anthology guest editor) * ''The Brief Reincarnation of a Girl'' (Gaspereau Press, 2015) * ''Penelope'' (Gaspereau Press, 2017) * ''Anthesis'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goyette, Susan 1964 births Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets Living people People from Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Writers from Sherbrooke 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Poets laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia Poets from Quebec Novelists from Nova Scotia Novelists from Quebec