Ali Pinkney is a literary writer recently based on Tiohtià:ke/Montréal and currently based on Tkaron:to/Toronto. A graduate student in the Field of Creative Writing at the University of Toronto, her writing is supported by a SSHRC research grant and Avie Bennett Award.
She holds a BA (2017) and MA (2021) from Concordia University where she held her year's Steinberg and David McKeen awards for top creative writing.
Ali is a virtual member of Motley College in New York City (2020-current), and has held residence as a poet at The Homeschool Hudson (2019) and Banff Centre (2018).
Reach her via e-mail: alipinkney@gmail.com
"[Tampion] is a book from a new author full of potential, a book that is fresh, bursting with odd situations, quirky angles and fractured narrative. And sombre. Death haunts the pages, and the vulnerability of the left, left to recall - the ghosts of experience/ story. [...] the book is an engaging read, well written, and highly recommended." - Sacha Archer, poet
"Ali Pinkney’s book Tampion is the one I feel closest to as an editor. Putting Tampion together was the most challenging of all the books, but in turn also the most rewarding. [Ali] really strengthened me as an editor. This book is wrought with emotion and sentiment and is ominous, unique and captivating. It would fit well with readers who enjoy Anne Sexton or Sylvia Plath." - Ashley Opheim in conversation with Guillaume Morisette, Vehicule Press Blogspot about Metatron Press 2014
"The dictionary defines Tampion as the stopper for a gun. And although the frenetic style of Ali Pinkney’s chapbook shouldn’t be restrained, the title does serve as a safety catch to contain her poems. Death and how to eclipse it, is a game Pinkney plays. In “Hier soir,” when Baby asks the poetic speaker, “People don’t die, right?” she is assured “No” (54). [...] Further the Ouija game of spelling words out, focuses attention on writing as a craft. And in turn, this self-referentiality adds vitality to the poems. Writing becomes creation. Creation is life. You should see Pinkney on stage, she resuscitates words through performance."
- Klara du Plessis, author of Ekke. From Resonance Café reviews, Echo
Sample works
