Anna Voskuil | News Editor
Featured Image: Uppal contributed significantly to the York community and beyond during her lifetime. | Courtesy of YFile
On September 5, York English Professor Priscila Uppal tragically passed away at age 43, after a long-time battle with synovial sarcoma.
Alongside teaching at York, Uppal was also a successful poet, novelist, and playwright. She was featured in and had edited several anthologies, and had authored two novels, a short story collection, and 10 books of poetry.
Uppal was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2007, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and acted as the poet-in-residence at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics.
She was also involved with York’s Existere: A Journal of Art and Literature, which focuses on publishing emerging and established talent from York and across the globe.
Editor Emeritus and former Publisher at Existere Edward Fenner shares his fondest memory of Uppal at York: “She had a big head of curly hair, and it was tied at the back because it was windy out that day. We were talking about Existere, and I turned away to retrieve a copy from my knapsack.
“I turned back and started to hand it to her when her hair band broke, releasing her mane rather violently. I was briefly startled and I said something like, ‘your hair just exploded.’ We both then laughed loud enough to disturb the other patrons.”
Associate English Professor Julia Creet, who assessed Uppal’s teaching for her advancement to Full Professor, also shares a memory of Uppal.
“As a teacher, she was mesmerizing: funny, warm, encouraging, and incisive. Her students loved her.
“Even for me as an experienced teacher, I felt the thrill of being in an environment where creativity and thought were equally valued and encouraged,” Creet says.
Uppal did a lot to foster a love for writing amongst York students, as well as serving as a dedicated supporter and mentor for aspiring writers. “She fought hard to make sure that the program was well supported, and used the Creative Writing Awards to showcase the incredible talent we were incubating,” says Creet.
“Priscila was positive in spirit and influence,” adds Fenner. “She was serious about her work and dedicated to literature and poetry—and in helping new poets and writers express themselves—but she was also loads of fun to work with or to have a conversation with.”
“She certainly inspired me to continue helping mature students succeed and to continue mentoring students at Existere year after year,” he continues.
“Above all, she was generous with her time and spirit. She was unfailingly positive and unflinchingly persistent,” says Creet. “Once Priscila set her mind to something, there was no dissuading her. That was part of the secret of her enormous success; she would not take no for an answer.”
“She was genuinely interested in people and what they had to say. Her dedication was infectious and inspiring,” Fenner adds.
As York mourns the loss of Uppal, Creet says: “It’s hard to truly express or measure who and what we lost in her death.”
