AUDIOBOOK
About
'Membering Austin Clarke reflects on the life and writing of Austin Clarke, whose depictions of Black life in Canada enlarged our understanding of what Canadian literature looks like.
Despite being one of Canada's most widely published, and most richly awarded writers, Austin Clarke (1934–2016) is not a household name. This collection addresses Clarke's marginalization in Canadian literature by demonstrating that his writing on Black diasporic life and the immigrant experience is a foundational, if untold, part of the story of CanLit.
Novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist, Clarke was born in Barbados, moved to Canada in 1955 and went on to establish Black Studies programs at a number of universities in America. He returned to Canada and became one of Canadian literature's most prolific authors and a public voice for Black people in Canada. Among his best-known works are the Giller Award–winning The Polished Hoe (2002) and his memoir 'Membering (2015).
This collection of essays from colleagues, scholars, friends, and fellow writers addresses Clarke's work in all its richness and complexity in order to understand how Clarke's legacy continues to transform Canadian writing. It includes previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives as well as personal reflections from friends, histories of the publication of his works, essays, interviews, and short stories and poems inspired by Clarke.
Paul Barrett is an Assistant Professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. His research interests include Canadian literature, diasporic literature, and digital humanities. A collection of reflections, anecdotes, essays, and interviews on Austin Clarke's life and writing that gives long overdue attention to the importance of Clarke's contributions to the development of Canada's literary canon. 'Membering Austin Clarke is a wonderful collection – a both discerning and poignant tribute to one of Canada's great writers, which will be a landmark work in Austin Clarke criticism for years to come. Paul Barrett has assembled some of the leading names in Black Canadian criticism, along with several friends and fellow travellers of Clarke, resulting in the production of a manuscript that will be widely read beyond an academic audience.
Contributor List
Paul Barrett, University of Guelph
Michael Bucknor, University of West Indies
Austin Clarke (1934 – 2016)
George Elliott Clarke, University of Toronto
Patrick Crean, Toronto,
Cyril Dabydeen, Ottawa
André Forget, Toronto
John Harewood, Ottawa, ON
Camille Isaacs, OCAD, Toronto
Sonnet L'Abbé, Vancouver Island University
John R. Lee, St. Lucia
Dennis Lee, Toronto, ON
Katherine McKittrick, Queen's University, Kingston
E. Martin Nolan, York University
Giovanna Riccio, Toronto
Leslie Sanders, York University, Toronto
Winfried Siemerling, University of Waterloo
Kate Siklosi, Toronto
Kris Singh,Royal Military College, Kingston
Marquita Smith, John Brown University, AR
Asha Varadharajan, Queen's University, Kingstondirectly address debates that are the heart of Canadian literature and culture today, such as publication and promotion of BIPOC authorscontains previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives important historical perspective on anti-blackness and racism in Canada today recent histories of CanLit have ignored Clarke -- this book places him in the canon
Acknowledgements
1. The Trouble of Intimacy / Rinaldo Walcott
2. On Austin Clarkes Style / Paul Barrett
3. Dear Austin: Why Teaching Your Work Is Difficult / Leslie Sanders
4. "There Were No Elders. Only Old Men": Aging and Misogyny in Austin Clarkes Later Fiction / Camille Isaacs
5. That Man, That Man-Stories and Confabulations / Austin Clarke
6. Burrowing Into the Craft: Editing Austin Clarke / Dennis Lee
7. Editorial Notes f
Despite being one of Canada's most widely published, and most richly awarded writers, Austin Clarke (1934–2016) is not a household name. This collection addresses Clarke's marginalization in Canadian literature by demonstrating that his writing on Black diasporic life and the immigrant experience is a foundational, if untold, part of the story of CanLit.
Novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist, Clarke was born in Barbados, moved to Canada in 1955 and went on to establish Black Studies programs at a number of universities in America. He returned to Canada and became one of Canadian literature's most prolific authors and a public voice for Black people in Canada. Among his best-known works are the Giller Award–winning The Polished Hoe (2002) and his memoir 'Membering (2015).
This collection of essays from colleagues, scholars, friends, and fellow writers addresses Clarke's work in all its richness and complexity in order to understand how Clarke's legacy continues to transform Canadian writing. It includes previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives as well as personal reflections from friends, histories of the publication of his works, essays, interviews, and short stories and poems inspired by Clarke.
Paul Barrett is an Assistant Professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. His research interests include Canadian literature, diasporic literature, and digital humanities. A collection of reflections, anecdotes, essays, and interviews on Austin Clarke's life and writing that gives long overdue attention to the importance of Clarke's contributions to the development of Canada's literary canon. 'Membering Austin Clarke is a wonderful collection – a both discerning and poignant tribute to one of Canada's great writers, which will be a landmark work in Austin Clarke criticism for years to come. Paul Barrett has assembled some of the leading names in Black Canadian criticism, along with several friends and fellow travellers of Clarke, resulting in the production of a manuscript that will be widely read beyond an academic audience.
Contributor List
Paul Barrett, University of Guelph
Michael Bucknor, University of West Indies
Austin Clarke (1934 – 2016)
George Elliott Clarke, University of Toronto
Patrick Crean, Toronto,
Cyril Dabydeen, Ottawa
André Forget, Toronto
John Harewood, Ottawa, ON
Camille Isaacs, OCAD, Toronto
Sonnet L'Abbé, Vancouver Island University
John R. Lee, St. Lucia
Dennis Lee, Toronto, ON
Katherine McKittrick, Queen's University, Kingston
E. Martin Nolan, York University
Giovanna Riccio, Toronto
Leslie Sanders, York University, Toronto
Winfried Siemerling, University of Waterloo
Kate Siklosi, Toronto
Kris Singh,Royal Military College, Kingston
Marquita Smith, John Brown University, AR
Asha Varadharajan, Queen's University, Kingstondirectly address debates that are the heart of Canadian literature and culture today, such as publication and promotion of BIPOC authorscontains previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives important historical perspective on anti-blackness and racism in Canada today recent histories of CanLit have ignored Clarke -- this book places him in the canon
Acknowledgements
1. The Trouble of Intimacy / Rinaldo Walcott
2. On Austin Clarkes Style / Paul Barrett
3. Dear Austin: Why Teaching Your Work Is Difficult / Leslie Sanders
4. "There Were No Elders. Only Old Men": Aging and Misogyny in Austin Clarkes Later Fiction / Camille Isaacs
5. That Man, That Man-Stories and Confabulations / Austin Clarke
6. Burrowing Into the Craft: Editing Austin Clarke / Dennis Lee
7. Editorial Notes f