Dionne Brand is one of Canada's most celebrated poets, with numerous accolades under her belt including a Governor General's Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Order of Canada.

She's a novelist, professor, documentary filmmaker, editor and Toronto's former poet laureate. Her latest book of poetry, The Blue Clerk, is on the shortlist for the 2019 Griffin Poetry Prize.

The Blue Clerk explores the act of creating poetry by examining the relationship between a poet and an imagined clerk who collects and creates an inventory of all the poems that didn't get published.

Brand joined host Tom Power live in the q studio to talk about her work and share a reading from The Blue Clerk.