One of the Canadian Mennonite writers that emerged from the prairie provinces in the 1980s, Di Brandt began her literary career by breaking the cultural silence surrounding women in the Mennonite church, and moved to consider the power differentials in the world outside that culture. Her poetry challenges traditions that have organized and problematized much of Western literary, cultural, or spiritual thought, with the emphasis she places upon the complexities of motherhood, faith, gender, language, and managing life in what Brandt calls the “postpostmodern world”.

Born Diana Ruth Janzen in 1952, she grew up in Reinland, a Mennonite farming village in southern central Manitoba. Moving to Winnipeg in 1969 to study at Canadian Mennonite Bible College, she obtained a Bachelor of Theology

1861 words

Citation: MacDonald, Tanis. "Di Brandt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 October 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5346, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5346 Di Brandt 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.