Amber Dawn, former sex worker, writer, speaks at Thunder Pride event

An award winning author from Vancouver, who is speaking tonight in Thunder Bay, says she writes about her own experiences as a sex worker as an act of justice for others in the trade.

Amber Dawn says she hopes her books can help end the silence around sex work.

The coming together of "writers and queer communities ... is sort of the epitome of a space I want to be in."- Amber Dawn

"You know we hear about sex work in the media all the time, but we very rarely hear from the workers themselves, from the people who actually have lived experiences," she said.

"Sex workers ... often face a lot of stigma and silencing. It's a criminalized profession, so a lot of people keep quiet about their lived experiences. So I wanted to write, not only as a creative process but as an act of justice and visibility. We really need to break the silence that exists around sex work."

Dawn will speak at tonight's fifth annual Thunder Pride Literary event, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Admission is free.

Writers 'are activists'

Writing — poetry in particular — saved her life, she said.

"It connected me with my voice, and with a wonderful community of writers," she continued.

"Not to pat myself on the back, but I happen to think writers are just the most wonderful people ... deeply in touch with themselves, really trying to explore the world around them. They're thinkers. They're passionate. They're lovers. They're fighters. They're activists. So I was really happy to be welcomed into a literary community."

An event like Pride Literary Night is brings "two communities" together, she added.

The coming together of "writers and queer communities ... is sort of the epitome of a space I want to be in."

Dawn won the 2012 Writers Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for emerging LGBT writers.

Her first novel, Sub Rosa, won the Lambda Award. And her autobiography, How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir, won the 2013 Vancouver Book Award.

Her latest book is a collection of poetry called Where the Words End, and My Body Begins.