Gavin Barrett is a poet and creative entrepreneur. He was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) of Anglo-Indian and Goan East African parentage. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Bombay and an M.A. in English Literature from Bombay University. He called Hong Kong home for several years before immigrating to Canada. Barrett’s poetry has been published in anthologies and an assortment of literary journals. He is the founder, host and series co-curator of the Tartan Turban Secret Readings, a Toronto reading series that focuses on giving emerging visible minority writers a stage. He is the co-founder of Barrett and Welsh, a firm that specializes in diversity and inclusion communications and urban sustainable development branding and advertising.
Poetry
Understan
Toronto: Mawenzi House, 2020.
e-book (Access restricted to members of the TMU community)
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything — the clouds in the winter sky, the “firework” display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.
Across space and time, crossing continents and decades, in this volume the poet uses memory and the minutiae of daily life to unravel the mysteries of love and death. He examines belief and superstition, on occasion prays, and delights in the sight of the familiar and the strange, the young and the old. In his journey the poet is lost but holds up the map to everywhere and everyone.
Links
Gavin Barrett personal website
Publisher Mawenzi House
Profile by Ed Seaward: “Gavin Barrett: A Life of Creativity and Caring” In Profiles From the Bright Side of the Road, posted August 18, 2021.