Lillian Allen (born 5 April 1951) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

musician, writer and

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

winner.

Biography

Born in

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label= Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. T ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, she left that country in 1969, first moving to

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 ...

, where she studied English at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pro ...

.Dawes, Kwame (2000), ''Talk Yuh Talk: Interviews with Anglophone Caribbean Poets'', University of Virginia Press, , pp. 148–160. She lived for a time in Kitchener,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, before settling in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, where she continued her education at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

, gaining a B.A. degree.Henry, Krista (2007
"Lillian Allen fights back with words"
''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 3 June 2007. . Retrieved 31 October 2010. After meeting Oku Onuora in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

in 1978, she began working in dub poetry. She released her first recording, ''Dub Poet: The Poetry of Lillian Allen'', in 1983. Allen won the

for Best Reggae/Calypso Album for '' Revolutionary Tea Party'' in 1986 and ''Conditions Critical'' in 1988. In 1990, she collaborated on the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause", a plea for greater inclusion of hip-hop music in the Canadian music scene, with

Dance Appeal Dance Appeal was a Canadian supergroup of dance, rhythm and blues, reggae and hip hop artists, who released the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause" in 1990. The song, a plea for greater inclusion of these predominantly black music genres in t ...

, a supergroup of Toronto-area musicians that included

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his ...

, Dream Warriors, B-Kool, Michie Mee,

Eria Fachin Eria Fachin (April 20, 1960 – May 9, 1996) was a Canadian dance pop singer, best known for her 1988 single "Savin' Myself".

, HDV, Dionne, Thando Hyman, Carla Marshall, Messenjah, Jillian Mendez, Lorraine Scott,

Lorraine Segato Lorraine P. Segato (born June 17, 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group The Parachute Club, with which she continues to pe ...

, Self Defense,

Leroy Sibbles Leroy Sibbles (born Leroy Sibblies, 29 January 1949) is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arr ...

, Zama and Thyron Lee White. Two years later, she organized a collective of artists, including Ahdri Zhina Mandiela and Afua Cooper, prompting Toronto's First International Dub Poetry Festival. In 2006, Allen and her work were the subject of an episode of the television series '' Heart of a Poet'', produced by Canadian filmmaker Maureen Judge. She is a Faculty of Liberal Studies Professor at the

Ontario College of Art and Design University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

, where she teaches creative writing. She recently held the distinction of being the first

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

Writer-in-Residence for Queen's University's Department of English. Allen also co-produced and co-directed ''Blak Wi Blakkk'', a 1991 documentary about the Jamaican dub poet

Mutabaruka Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...

Publications

*1983 ''Rhythm an' Hardtimes'' *1984 ''The Teeth of the Whirlwind'' *1987 ''If You See Truth'' *1991 ''Why Me'' *1993 ''Women Do This Every Day'' *1993 ''Love & Other Strange Things'' (stage play) *1999 ''Psychic Unrest''

Discography

* ''Dub Poet: The Poetry of Lillian Allen'' (1983) * ''De dub poets'' (1985) * ''Curfew Inna B.C.'' (1985) * '' Revolutionary Tea Party'' (1986) * ''Let the Heart See'' (1987) * ''Conditions Critical'' (1988) * ''Nothing But a Hero'' (1992) * ''Freedom & Dance'' (1999) * ''Anxiety (European release)'' (2012)

References

External links

Lillian Allen's Official WebsiteInterview with Lillian Allen: "All the More 'Anxious for a Revolution'"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Lillian 1951 births Living people 20th-century Canadian poets Jamaican emigrants to Canada Black Canadian musicians Black Canadian writers Canadian reggae musicians Canadian women poets Jamaican dub poets 20th-century Canadian women writers Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto People from Spanish Town Black Canadian women Juno Award for Reggae Recording of the Year winners Canadian spoken word poets