Lawrence Christopher Patrick (aka Ytzhak) Braithwaite (March 17, 1963 – July 14, 2008) was a Canadian

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 writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

artist,

dub poet Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s,

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, digital drummer and short

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

writer. Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, he has been called "one of the outstanding Canadian prose writers alive" (Gail Scott) and linked to the "New Narrative" movement, a term coined by Steve Abbott. He was the author of the legendary cult novel ''Wigger''."Wigger world: angry, black and gay". ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'', May 27, 1995. Braithwaite's work has been praised by

Dodie Bellamy Dodie Bellamy (born 1951) is an American novelist, nonfiction author, journalist, educator and editor. Her book, ''Cunt-Ups'' (2001) won the 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award. Her work is frequently associated with that of the New Narrativ ...

for its "sublime impenetrability".Dodie Bellamy, "Body Language", ''Academonia'' (San Francisco: Krupskaya, 2006): p. 82; available online in ''Fascicle'' 2 (Winter 2005–2006) and is fueled by a

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

and

Fredric Jameson Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmodernity and capitalism. James ...

-influenced late modernist approach to writing and recording. His work is influenced by the musical and

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

of punk rock,

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

, hip hop,

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and dub. Braithwaite utilized the intensity of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

No Wave scene and the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and Montreal

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

music

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

s to compose his

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

. His family has laid him to rest in Notre-Dames-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec. Braithwaite was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He was a vocal critic of the LGBT community's sometimes inadequate response to issues of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

Bibliography

*''Wigger'' (1995) *''Ratz Are Nice: PSP'' (2000) *''Speed, thrash, death: Alamo, B. C.'' (with illustrations by Krista E. McLean & Max) *''More at 7:30 (Notes from New Palestine)''

Anthologies

*''Queeries: An Anthology of Gay Male Prose'' (ed. Dennis Denisoff, 1994): "Spunk" *''Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art'' *Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian's ''Mirage #4/Period(ical)'' *''Bluesprints: Anthology of Black British Columbian Literature and Orature'' *Redzone

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

, *''Of the Flesh: Dangerous Fiction'' *"Vanilla Primitive

in the e-journal ''Sleepy Brain'' *''Nocturnes'' 3 Review of the Literary Arts 2005 *''Biting the Error: Writers Explore Narrative'' *''Sidebrow'' e-journa

an

*''New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills.

*The World Crisis Web (ed. Danny Dayus
Revolution is Bloody
*''Black Ice''

*''The Rain Review of Books

Recordings

Logopolis with The Killing Flaw
*Good Violence. D.U.N.
How fast Does Light travel (for George Scott 3rd, James Chance and Lil G)Olivet (H.A.T.s in the Square) (featuring Intifada Al Ard)
*Unnerstated (Downpressin) from Hurricane Angel "Luckily I Was Half Cat" *En Fins (Clichy Sous Bois) with Tolan McNeil (AKA The Giver
London bomb sensation (hoffman sub dub the samo samo) lord patch vs david patrick
*Unnerstated (a cappella) in

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

's Upstart Radio in

Mindwalk ''Mindwalk'' is a 1990 feature film directed by Bernt Capra, adapted from his short story based on '' The Turning Point'', a nonfiction book by physicist Fritjof Capra, his brother. Plot The film portrays a wide-ranging conversation among three ...

31
Driving to Baghdad
*En Fins (Clichy Sous Bois) in Mindwalk 42: Henry, Ann Coulter & the FC
Just A Sect For Whiteboys In Afrika

References

External links

Publisher's interview with Braithwaite
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121016232207/http://www.fantasticweapon.com/fantastic-picks/outsider-artist-lawrence-braithwaite-dies/ " to Lawrence Braithwaite" by Fantastic Weapon (15 August 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Lawrence Ytzhak 1963 births 2008 deaths Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Black Canadian writers Canadian spoken word poets 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian LGBT novelists Canadian LGBT poets Canadian gay writers Jewish Canadian writers Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Dub poets 21st-century Canadian male writers Black Canadian LGBT people 20th-century Canadian LGBT people Gay poets Gay novelists

Bibliography

Anthologies

Recordings

See also

References

External links