Dr. Darcy Ballantyne

Biography

Darcy Ballantyne is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University. He specializes in Black studies, Black Canadian literatures and cultures, city writing, Black memoir, and critical mixed race theory. Darcy has published articles in several journals, including TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies and MaComère: Journal of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars. He is currently co-editing a special issue of Canadian Literature that focuses on Black life in a post-pandemic world and is engaged in book-length projects related to literary memoir. Darcy completed his PhD in English Literature at York University, where his SSHRC-funded dissertation, titled "Poetics of the Contemporary Black Canadian City," examines representations of urban life by Black Canadian writers in the context of plantation theory. He has also taught as sessional faculty in the Black Canadian Studies Certificate Program at York University and in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University. Darcy is enthusiastic about the prospect of collaborating with colleagues and students who share an interest in exploring Black life in Canada and the wider diaspora, noting that Toronto Metropolitan University's diverse activist student body and faculty, alongside its unique downtown location, provide an exhilarating environment for teaching and researching contemporary urban Black issues and literature.

Research Interests