Full Description
Blues singer, preacher, cultural critic, exile, Africadian, high modernist, spoken word artist, Canadian poetâthese are but some of the voices of George Elliott Clarke. In a selection of Clarke's best work from his early poetry to his most recent, Blues and Bliss: The Poetry of George Elliott Clarke offers readers an impressive cross-section of those voices. Jon Paul Fiorentino's introduction focuses on this polyphony, his influencesâDerek Walcott, Amiri Baraka, and the canon of literary English from Shakespeare to Yeatsâand his "voice throwing," and shows how the intersections here produce a "troubling" of language. He sketches Clarke's primary interest in the negotiation of cultural space through adherence to and revision of tradition and on the finding of a vernacular that begins in exile, especially exile in relation to African-Canadian communities. In the afterword, Clarke, in an interesting re-spin of Fiorentino's introduction, writes with patented gusto about how his experiences have contributed to multiple sounds and forms in his work. Decrying any grandiose notions of theory, he presents himself as primarily a songwriter.
Contents
Table of Contents for Blues and Bliss: The Poetry of George Elliott Clarke selected with an introduction by Jon Paul Fiorentino Foreword | Neil Besner Biographical Note Introduction | Jon Paul Fiorentino Salvation Army Blues Halifax Blues Hammonds Plains African Baptist Church Campbell Road Church Watercolour for Negro Expatriates in France Look Homeward, Exile The Wisdom of Shelley The River Pilgrim: A Letter Blank Sonnet The Symposium Rose Vinegar Blues for X Vision of Justice Chancyâs Menu Chancyâs Drinking Song Beatriceâs Defence George & Rue: Pure, Virtuous Killers Ballad of a Hanged Man Child Hood I Child Hood II Hard Nails Public Enemy The Killing Trial I Trial II Avowals Negation Calculated Offensive à Dany Laferrière Haligonian Market Cry Nu(is)ance Onerous Canon April 1, 19â from Blue Elegies I.i I.ii I.iii I.iv I.v I.vi Blues de Malcolm May ushers in with lilac George & Rue: Coda Letter to a Young Poet Of Black English, or Pig Iron Latin Africadian Experience Afterword: Let Us Now Attain Polyphonous Epiphanies | George Elliot Clarke Acknowledgements
