He is currently working on two projects, one poetry and one fiction. The Bhārata is a contemporary poetic interpretation of the central epic in the great Sanskrit poem The Mahābhārata. This work is made possible by the support of the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Arts Fellowship. He currently has a Canada Council grant to develop his next book of fiction, Masala-Fried Sunfish, stories about South Asian immigrants in Ontario’s cottage country. He recently completed his first novel, The Mango Stone.

His third book of poetry, clay lamps & fighter kites (The Mercury Press, 2000), strives to ‘translate’ intimate South Asian and East African imagery into a Canadian poetic context. His second book, two visual essays, sensory deprivation / dream poetics (Coach House Books, 2000), received an Alcuin Award for Book Design – lopes designed the book. His first book, towards the quiet (ECW Press, 1997), is a personal journey through cultural identity, influence and history. It was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award for best first poetry book in Canada.

But lopes has not restricted his work to the page. His poetry-multimedia installation Project X 1497-1999 has been featured at two Desh Pardesh Conferences (Toronto, 1998 & 2000), and at the ‘Public Displays of Asianness’ conference at NYU (New York, 1998). And the electronic version of sensory deprivation / dream poetics evolved independently of the print version. Both these works explore and manipulate the process of reading/navigating and subvert expectations.

lopes began working as an editor in 1990 when he founded the micro press fingerprinting inkoperated while living in Montréal. Using a wide range of publishing methods, from rubberstamps to desktop publishing, he hand produced chapbooks, leaflets and broadsides by authors such as Nelson Ball, Daniel f Bradley, Christian Bök, jwcurry, MAC Farrant, Gerry Gilbert, bpNichol, David UU, Darren Wershler-Henry, and Alana Wilcox.

In 1995, lopes and his brother, Dominic McIver Lopes, began Caju Press with the aim of publishing South Asian folk literature for western audiences. Though only one title was brought to press – A Handful of Grams: Goan Proverbs – it has left a lasting impression.

lopes was the web editor and a consulting editor at Coach House Books from 1998 to 2004. While with this innovative press, he was responsible for developing and maintaining one of the most significant electronic collections of Canadian literature.

Born in Aberdeen Scotland and raised in Toronto Canada, damian lopes traces his family over much of the globe, including the UK, New Zealand, Tanzania, India and Portugal. After attending McGill University in Montréal, he lived in Vancouver BC, and then travelled through India and East Africa. Having cottaged in Simcoe county throughout his childhood, lopes now lives in Barrie Ontario with his wife and son.