photo: Geeta Paray-Clarke

GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE

A revered poet, George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, near the Black Loyalist community of Three Miles Plains, in 1960. A graduate of the University of Waterloo (B.A., Hons., 1984), Dalhousie University (M.A., 1989), and Queen’s University (Ph.D., 1993), he is now the inaugural E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto. An Assistant Professor of English and Canadian Studies at Duke University, 1994-1999, Clarke also served as the Seagrams Visiting Chair in Canadian Studies at McGill University, 1998-1999, and as a Noted Scholar at the University of British Columbia (2002) and as a Visiting Scholar at Mount Allison University (2005). He has also worked as a researcher (Ontario Provincial Parliament, 1982-83), editor (Imprint, University of Waterloo, 1984-85, and The Rap, Halifax, 1985-87), and newspaper columnist (The Daily News, Halifax, 1988-89, and The Halifax Herald, 1992-). He lives in Toronto, but he also owns land in Nova Scotia. His many honours include the Portia White Prize for Artistic Achievement (1998), Governor-General’s Award for Poetry (2001), The National Magazine Gold medal for Poetry (2001), the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award (2004), the Trudeau Fellowship Prize (2005), and the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction (2006).

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Poetry:

Poeme Incendiare (translation by Flavia Cosma)

• [Romania : Cogito Editions] 2006

Black

• [Vancouver : Raincoast Books] 2006

Illuminated Verses

• [Toronto : Canadian Scholars Press - Kellom books] 2005

Blue

• [Vancouver : Polestar/Raincoast Books] 2001

Execution Poems: The Black Acadian Tragedy of "George and Rue" winner of the 2001Governor General's Award*

• [Wolfville, NS : Gaspereau Press] 2001

Gold Indigoes

• [Durham, NC: Carolina Wren Press] 2000

Lush Dreams, Blue Exile: Fugitive Poems

• [Halifax : Pottersfield Press] 1994

Whylah Falls

• [Vancouver : Polestar Books] 10th Anniversary Edition
• [Victoria : Polestar Book Publishers] 1990

Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues

• [Halifax : Pottersfield Press] 1983

Fiction:

George & Rue (novel)

• [Toronto :HarperCollins] 2005

Plays:

Québécité

• [Wolfville, NS: Gaspereau Press] 2003

Beatrice Chancy (opera libretto)

• [Canadian Theatre Review] Fall 1999

Beatrice Chancy (verse drama)

• [Victoria : Polestar Book Publishers] 1999

Whylah Falls : The Play

• [Toronto : Playwrights Canada Press] 2000
• [Toronto : Playwrights Canada Press] 1999

Screenplays:

One Heart Broken Into Song

• [CBC television] 1999

Chapbooks:

Africadian History : An Exhibition Catalogue (poetry)

• [Wolfville, NS : Gaspereau Press] Fall 2001

Blue (II) (poetry) A Trestle Chapbook published within Book 1 of the Tendril Anthology Series: "Running With Scissors."

• [Montréal : Cumulus Press] May 2001

Gold Indigoes (poetry)

• [Durham, NC : Carolina Wren Press] 2000

Provençal Songs (poetry)

• [Ottawa : above/ground press] 1997
• [Ottawa : Magnum Book Store] 1993 Limited Edition: 30 copies

Other:

Odysseys Home: Mapping African-Canadian Literature

• [Toronto : University of Toronto Press] 2002

Africadian Special Issue, The Dalhousie Review 77.2, Guest Editor (Summer 1997)

Eyeing the North Star : Directions in African-Canadian Literature, edited by G.E. Clarke

• [Toronto : McClelland & Stewart] 1997

Border Lines: Contemporary Poetry in English, co-edited by Wainwright, Clarke, Grogan, Li, Ross & Wallace

• [Toronto : Copp-Clark] 1995

Writing Away : The PEN Travel Anthology

• [Toronto : McClelland & Stewart] 1994

Fire on The Water : An Anthology of Black Nova Scotian Writing, (2 volumes) edited by G.E. Clarke

• [Halifax : Pottersfield Press] 1991-1992

Poets 88

• [Kingston : Quarry Press] 1988

Other Voices : Writings by Blacks in Canada

• [Toronto : Williams-Wallace Publishers] 1985

The Atlantic Anthology : Volume II

• [Charlottetown : Ragweed Press] 1985

Titles about G. E. Clarke:

"Whylah Falls: The Play" in Testifyin', edited by Djanet Sears

• [Toronto : Playwrights Canada Press] 2000

title unknown

• Akoulina Connell. [Thesis (M.A.), Dept. of English, McGill University, Montréal QC] in progress

The Voice of Canadian Blues: George Elliott Clarke's Whylah Falls

• M.R. Hartley. [Thesis (M.A.), Dept. of English, McMaster University, Hamilton ON] in progress

Witnessing the Invisibility: The Africadian Muses of George Elliott Clarke

• Colleen E. Pielechaty. [Thesis (M.A.), Dept. of English, Dalhousie University, Halifax NS] 1997

Whylah Falls and the Cultural Politics of George Elliott Clarke

• David Chariandy. [Thesis (M.A.), Dept. of English, Carleton University, Ottawa ON] 1995.

George Elliott Clarke: Nova Scotia's Mythopoetic Poet

• Agassou Jones. [Thesis (B.A.), Dept. of English, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish NS] 1990.