Photo credit
Diana Hope Tegenkamp

Biography

Diana Hope Tegenkamp is a Métis poet and multimedia artist. Born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Diana lives in Saskatoon and has also lived and studied in Montreal. Diana has published one book of poetry, Girl running, which was shortlisted for a national Indigenous Voices Award and two Saskatchewan Book Awards. Diana's poem, "My Father as Rhythm in Lakewater," received second place in the 2020 Banff Centre Bliss Carmen Poetry Award contest. Poems from Girl running were longlisted for a 2020 CBC Poetry Prize and included in Carving Space: The Indigenous Voices Award Anthology.

Diana's poetic style is a mix of lyrical, language-based and visual poetry. Some influences include poets Randy Lundy, Nicole Brossard, Anne Carson, Don Mee Choi, Susan Howe, Caroline Bergvall, and Anne Simpson. Diana's film poems and video work have screened in international festivals, including the Berlin Art Film Festival. 

Find out more about Diana at www.dianahopetegenkamp.com or on Instagram: @dianahopetegenkamp

Micro-interview

Did you read poetry when you were in high school? Is there a particular poem that you loved when you were a teenager?

I've read poetry ever since I was a young child. A particular poem I loved as a teenager is "This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos Williams.

When did you first start writing poetry? And then when did you start thinking of yourself as a poet?

I first started writing poetry when I was around 10 or 11. However, I didn't think of myself as a poet until much later in my life.

What do you think a poet’s “job” is?

My main "job" as a poet is to listen-- to words, language and sounds, and also to silence. Rather than forcing a poem into being, I try to open myself up to how the poem might need to speak or need to shape itself on the page, and then I try to follow that and build on that.

If you have a poem in our anthology what inspired you to write it?

I plan to include my poem, "My father as rhythm in lakewater," as a part of a Mixtape I am working on. I was inspired to write this poem when I heard Susan Olds read a poem on the CBC Radio show, Writers & Company. Olds' poem, titled "Her Birthday as Ashes in Seawater," is about the poet scattering her mother's ashes in the sea, and yet it is a very life-affirming poem. This poem inspired me to write a poem about my father's passing. It helped me to find a way to celebrate my father's goodness and yet also observe the difficulties in our relationship. 

If you had to choose one poem to memorize from our anthology, which one would it be?

The Temptation by Nicole Brossard

Publications

Title
Girl running
Publisher
Thistledown Press
Editors
Elizabeth Phillips
Date
September, 2021
Publication type
Book
Poem title(s)
"If the measure of love is loss, why not live in it, this light?" "Motherfield"
Title
Carving Space: The Indigenous Voices Awards Anthology
Publisher
McClelland & Stewart
Editors
Jordan Abel, Carleigh Baker, and Madelein Reddon
Date
May 2023
Publication type
Anthology
Poem title(s)
"My father as rhythm in lakewater"
Title
Prairie Fire Magazine
Publisher
Prairie Fire Press, Inc.
Date
Summer, 2020 Issue
Publication type
Periodical/Magazine
Start here: