Dawn Macdonald on the mess and beauty of growing up in the Canadian North
The Canadian poet visits Q's Tom Power to talk about her debut poetry collection, Northerny, which just won this year's Canadian First Book Prize
The Canadian poet visits Q's Tom Power to talk about her debut poetry collection, Northerny


Dawn Macdonald is a poet based in Whitehorse, who released her debut poetry collection Northerny in 2024. The book is an honest, raw, and unsentimental look at growing up and living in Canada's North. Now, Northerny is the winner of this year's Griffin Poetry Prize, Canadian First Book Prize. Dawn tells Tom Power about growing up in Yukon without running water or electricity, and her relationship with the natural world. Plus, she'll read a poem from her collection titled "Wasp Summer".
The full interview with Dawn Macdonald is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Dawn Macdonald produced by Cora Nijhawan.