Canada’s new Order

BY: Andrea Thompson

George Elliott Clarke is no stranger to the term “icon.” With an impressive list of awards under his belt — including the 2001 Governor General’s Award for his book Execution Poems — the prolific playwright, novelist, poet, scholar and University of Toronto professor is deservedly acclaimed. In 2008, the highest honour conferred by the Canadian government was added to his long list of awards when he became a member of the Order of Canada.

Clarke was offered the distinction for his contribution to the Canadian literary landscape, and for his mentorship of emerging writers across the country. “I am honoured and delighted to accept this appointment on behalf of my parents,” says Clarke. “And as a poet, to enjoy this approval of my compatriots.”

Also included in the list of recent appointees is Dr. Henry Morgentaler. The controversy over the abortion doctor’s inclusion overshadowed the entire process in 2008. When asked his opinion about the flurry of protests that followed the decision to honor the pro-choice activist, Clarke holds nothing back.

“[The controversy is] healthy! That’s good. Look — you don’t have progress without controversy. From at least one school of thought, a woman’s right to reproductive choice is progress, social progress. And so those folks who believe that are a substantial part of the population. Shouldn’t they have one of their champions represented in the Order?” Clarke laughs. “Let the man have his medal. He went to jail, for crying out loud!”

Clarke himself is the product of social progress. Born in Nova Scotia during the early ’60s, he witnessed first-hand the emerging role blacks were playing in the creation of Canada’s “multicultural” identity. For Clarke, the black experience is the Canadian experience; and whether through his own work or the work of others, he is passionate about the accurate representation of Canada’s black communities.

“To be black in Canada is to deal with a very specific set of cultural and political and even economic issues. You know, we got this white lady in Europe sittin’ on our money. If you’re a black writer with a racial consciousness, that’s got to do something to you.”

In spite of the fact that Clarke’s work has been highly acclaimed, translated and produced around the world, he, like many black Canadian writers, still encounters resistance to the addition of his voice to the country’s literary establishment. “There are certain things that Canadians do not want to hear because they violate the master narrative,” Clarke explains. “The master narrative is that we’re better than the United States — we don’t have racism. And so, everybody be happy and grab a Keith’s or scream ‘I am Canadian.’”

The issue of identity is deeply rooted in Clarke’s work. Often writing out of his own experience and history as a seventh-generation black Nova Scotian, Clarke weaves poetry with dialect, infusing his work with a love for our use of language. “This has always been the genius — or at least part of the genius — of African diasporic cultures. To be able to put forward wisdom sayings — wisdom literature — and spoken forms that can be easily remembered and shared with others.”

For Clarke, this diasporic genius fuels a desire to continue writing and sharing his perspective. With Blues and Bliss: The Poetry of George Elliott Clarke and I and I, a book-length narrative poem, which both came out in 2008, fans can be sure that the passionate voice of Canada’s coolest academic and poet will resonate with readers for years to come.