'Membering Austin Clarke
A Writer, a Life
Published on 24. November 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
188 pages
978-1-77112-477-5 (ISBN)
Description
'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 1995 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 It includes previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives as well as personal reflections from friends, histories of the publication of his works, essays, interviews, and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.
Novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist, Clarke was born in Barbados, moved to Canada in 1995 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 It includes previously unpublished poems and short stories from Clarke's archives as well as personal reflections from friends, histories of the publication of his works, essays, interviews, and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.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 201 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-77112-477-5 (9781771124775)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
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.
Content
Acknowledgements
1. The Trouble of Intimacy / Rinaldo Walcott
2. On Austin Clarke's 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 Clarke's 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 for "When He Was Free and Young and He Used to Wear Silks" / Dennis Lee
8. Sometimes, A Motherless Child: A Double Take / Giovanna Riccio
9. "These Virtues o' the Cullinerry Harts": Talking Food and Politics in the Letters of Austin Clarke, Sam Selvon, and Andrew Salkey / Kris Singh
10. Let Me Stand Up / Austin Clarke
11. Austin A.C. Clarke Is the Most / Kate Siklosi
12. The Rogue in Me / Austin Clarke
13. Spatiality in the Poetry of Austin A.C. Clarke / Stephen Cain
14. The Lessons of Austin Clarke / Sonnet L'Abbé
15. "The Wordshop of the Kitchen": Impressions of Austin Clarke and Paule Marshall / Asha Varadharajan
16. Of Kin and Kind / Marquita Smith
17. The Robber / Austin Clarke
18. Austin Clarke: Defying the Silence, a Life in Letters / John Harewood
19. Austin Clarke Love Poem / Cyril Dabydeen
20. Do Not Let Them Choose the Fragrance / Austin Clarke
21. There Will Never Be Another Austin Clarke / Patrick Crean
22. Still the British Empire / André Forget
23. I Can Say I Read It / E. Martin Nolan
24. Austin Clarke's Books / Katherine McKittrick
25. Hyphen (for Austin "Tom" Clarke, 1934-2016) / John R. Lee
26. "Myth Grounded in Truth": Sound, Light, and the Vertical Imagination in Austin Clarke's 'Membering / Winfried Siemerling
27. À St. Matthias / George Elliott Clarke
28. Clarke on Clarke / George Elliott Clarke & Paul Barrett
29. All He Wanted to Do Was Type / Michael A. Bucknor
30. Recognition / David Chariandy
Works Cited
Index
1. The Trouble of Intimacy / Rinaldo Walcott
2. On Austin Clarke's 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 Clarke's 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 for "When He Was Free and Young and He Used to Wear Silks" / Dennis Lee
8. Sometimes, A Motherless Child: A Double Take / Giovanna Riccio
9. "These Virtues o' the Cullinerry Harts": Talking Food and Politics in the Letters of Austin Clarke, Sam Selvon, and Andrew Salkey / Kris Singh
10. Let Me Stand Up / Austin Clarke
11. Austin A.C. Clarke Is the Most / Kate Siklosi
12. The Rogue in Me / Austin Clarke
13. Spatiality in the Poetry of Austin A.C. Clarke / Stephen Cain
14. The Lessons of Austin Clarke / Sonnet L'Abbé
15. "The Wordshop of the Kitchen": Impressions of Austin Clarke and Paule Marshall / Asha Varadharajan
16. Of Kin and Kind / Marquita Smith
17. The Robber / Austin Clarke
18. Austin Clarke: Defying the Silence, a Life in Letters / John Harewood
19. Austin Clarke Love Poem / Cyril Dabydeen
20. Do Not Let Them Choose the Fragrance / Austin Clarke
21. There Will Never Be Another Austin Clarke / Patrick Crean
22. Still the British Empire / André Forget
23. I Can Say I Read It / E. Martin Nolan
24. Austin Clarke's Books / Katherine McKittrick
25. Hyphen (for Austin "Tom" Clarke, 1934-2016) / John R. Lee
26. "Myth Grounded in Truth": Sound, Light, and the Vertical Imagination in Austin Clarke's 'Membering / Winfried Siemerling
27. À St. Matthias / George Elliott Clarke
28. Clarke on Clarke / George Elliott Clarke & Paul Barrett
29. All He Wanted to Do Was Type / Michael A. Bucknor
30. Recognition / David Chariandy
Works Cited
Index