D'bi Young
Encyclopedia
D'bi Young is a Jamaica
n-Canadian
dub poet
, monodramatist, and educator, as well as a Dora-winning actor and playwright
. Raised Debbie Young in Jamaica
, she moved to Canada in 1993. As an actor, she has appeared in Trey Anthony
's da kink in my hair, which garnered her a Dora
nomination for best actress, and the television sitcom Lord Have Mercy!.
She won outstanding new play and outstanding performance by a female in a principal role in a play in the 2006 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for her play blood.claat: one womban story.
In 2007 She facilitated a summer dub theatre program for youth in Toronto, which led her to founding and artistic directing anitafrika dub theatre.
She identifies as a 'biomythicist,' borrowing the term 'biomyth' from the late audre lorde. D'bi is curator of the Badilisha Poetry X-Change
project created by the Africa Centre
and artistic director of YEMOYA, an international artist-residency based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
dub poet
Dub poetry
Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music consisting of spoken word over reggae rhythms in Jamaica in the 1970s....
, monodramatist, and educator, as well as a Dora-winning actor and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. Raised Debbie Young in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, she moved to Canada in 1993. As an actor, she has appeared in Trey Anthony
Trey Anthony
Trey Anthony is a Canadian comedian and playwright.Born in England, Anthony is a regular on the Canadian comedy circuit. She began doing stand-up comedy during African Nubian Comedy Nights at Yuk-Yuk's....
's da kink in my hair, which garnered her a Dora
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
nomination for best actress, and the television sitcom Lord Have Mercy!.
She won outstanding new play and outstanding performance by a female in a principal role in a play in the 2006 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for her play blood.claat: one womban story.
In 2007 She facilitated a summer dub theatre program for youth in Toronto, which led her to founding and artistic directing anitafrika dub theatre.
She identifies as a 'biomythicist,' borrowing the term 'biomyth' from the late audre lorde. D'bi is curator of the Badilisha Poetry X-Change
Badilisha Poetry X-Change
Badilisha Poetry X-Change is a platform dedicated to showcasing poetry from Africa and the Diaspora. The project came out of recognizing the lack of documentation of African poets, on the African continent and in the rest of the world. Its aims are to fill this void as well as create a...
project created by the Africa Centre
Africa Centre
The Africa Centre is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it conducts, facilitates or supports have some social intention...
and artistic director of YEMOYA, an international artist-residency based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Discography
- debbie young - when the love is not enough 2000
- debbie young - xperimentin dub with dub trinity reggae band 2001
- debbie young - xperimentin dub in havana Cuba 2002
- d'bi.young - dubbin.revolushun: blood demo 2003
- d'bi.young - animal farm single 2005
- d'bi.young - when sisters speak live 2007
- d'bi.young - wombanifesto 2010
Compilations
- wordlife: tales of the underground griots 1998
- la vache enragee 1998
- ribsauce: a CD anthology of words by women 1999
- lost tribes of the sun: renewal 2003
- cbc national poetry slam compilation 2004
Plays
- Selphine Loathing 2001
- yagayah: two.womben.black.griots 2001
- blood(claat): one oomaan story 2005 (part 1 of sankofa trilogy)
- androgyne 2006
- benu 2009 (part 2 of sankofa trilogy)
- word! sound! powah 2010 (part 3 of sankofa trilogy)
- she 2010
Books
- art on black (book of poetry) 2005
- blood.claat (play) 2006
- rivers and other blackness between us (book of poetry) 2007
Awards
- artstarts emerging artist award 2002
- nourbese philip award 2002
- harold theatre award 2005
- 2 dora awards - outstanding new play, outstanding female lead - bloodclaat 2006
- naacp best cast ensemble award - da kink in my hair 2007
- rbc toronto arts council emerging artist award 2007
- km hunter theatre award 2010