Amber Dawn

Amber Dawn, a prominent Canadian writer, filmmaker, and performance artist, has made significant contributions to the literary world, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. Born in 1974, she has garnered acclaim for her unique voice and compelling narratives. Her debut novel, Sub Rosa, published in 2010, not only marked her entry into the literary scene but also earned the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction, Lesbian, that same year.

In 2012, Amber was honored with the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, awarded by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging LGBTQ+ writer. Her subsequent works, including the 2013 collection of essays and poems, How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir, further solidified her reputation, earning a nomination for the Lambda Literary Awards and winning the City of Vancouver Book Award.

Beyond her writing, Amber has played a vital role in the arts community as the director of programming for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival for four years, concluding her tenure in 2012. She returned in 2017 as co-artistic director, collaborating with Anoushka Ratnarajah to enrich the festival's offerings.

Amber's editorial work includes contributions to the anthology Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in 2009, and co-editing With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn with Trish Kelly. Her novel, Sodom Road Exit, published in 2018, was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction in 2019, showcasing her continued impact on contemporary literature.