DIANA HAYES

Diana Hayes was born in Toronto and has lived on the east and west coasts of Canada.  She studied at the Universities of Victoria and British Columbia, receiving a B.A. and M.F.A. in Creative Writing.  Her published books include Two of Swords (co-editor), Moving Inland, The Classical Torso in 1980, The Choreography of Desire, Coming Home (anthology), This Is The Moon’s Work, Labyrinth of Green, Gold in the Shadow, Language of Light, and Sapphire and the Hollow Bone.   Her play, Islomania: Sage of the Settlers, was produced by Salt of the Earth Productions and for the Salt Spring Festival of the Arts.  She established Raven Chapbooks in 2019, a small family press that produces beautifully designed books and specializes in poetry chapbooks.

For over two decades, Diana Hayes has expanded her poetic vision into the realm of photographic dreamscapes and narratives.  Her photographs have been shown through the Vancouver Association of Photographic Arts and the Exposure Gallery, and in the annual Photosynthesis Shows at ArtSpring.  A selection of her photographs was chosen for the Fine Arts Sooke Region Museum show and for the Parallel Art Show on Salt Spring Island.  Her photography has been featured in several of her books including Choreography of Desire and Labyrinth of Green and have been commissioned for book covers.

Since 1981, she has made her home on Salt Spring Island—the traditional and unceded territory of the Hul’q’umi’num’ and SEN?O?EN speaking people, where she divides her time between writing, photography, publishing small edition poetry chapbooks, and when possible, travel.  In 2002, she founded the Salt Spring Seals, an open-water swim team that swims year-round in the bays around Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands.

Diana is a member of PhotoSynthesis