THE PARLIAMENTARYPOET LAUREATE
LAUREATE FORMER POETS
LAUREATE POEM OF
THE MONTH NOMINATION
PROCESS CONTACT
CURRENT POET LAUREATE
George Elliott Clarke, Parliamentary Poet Laureate 2016-2017
On January 5, 2016, the Speaker of the Senate, the Hon. George J. Furey, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Hon. Geoff Regan, announced the appointment of George Elliott Clarke as Canada’s next Parliamentary Poet Laureate. On January 1st, Mr. Clarke became Canada’s seventh Poet Laureate, succeeding Mr. Michel Pleau, whose term ended December 31, 2015.
Biography
A revered poet, George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, near the Black Loyalist community of Three Mile 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, North Carolina (1994-99), Clarke also served as the Seagrams Visiting Chair in Canadian Studies at McGill University (1998-99), and as a Noted Scholar at the University of British Columbia (2002) and as a Visiting Scholar at Mount Allison University (2005), and as the William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies at Harvard University (2013-14). He has also worked as a research, editor, social worker, parliamentary aide, and newspaper columnist. He lives in Toronto, Ontario, 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 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship Prize (2005), the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction (2006), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (2009), appointment to the Order of Nova Scotia (2006), appointment to the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer (2008), and eight honorary doctorates. He has recently completed his three year term as the City of Toronto’s Poet Laureate.
Poems
Poem commemorating the Lac-Mégantic disaster | The Ballad of the Lac-Mégantic Disaster (July 2017)
Poem highlighting Canada’s 150th Anniversary | Anthem for Liberty’s Champions (June 2017)
Poem about the Marijuana Legislation | Up in Smoke, or Reverie on the “Mary Jane” Legislation (May 2017)
Poem written for the passing of Richard B. Wright | Elegy for Richard B. Wright (May 2017)
Poem written for the passing of Stuart McLean | Elegy for Stuart McLean (May 2017)
Poem for Earth Day | Earth Day Emergency (April 2017)
Poem about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms | On the 35th Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (April 2017)
An homage to Viola Desmond | On Political Economy; or, The Ballad of Viola Desmond (March 2017)
Poem written after the Quebec City mosque shooting | Ain’t You Scared of the Sacred?: A Spiritual (February 2017)
Poem about environment and climate change | Beat Meditations: Beach / Mountain (January 2017)
Poem about Yukon | Yukon / Utopia (January 2017)
Poem about the Senate | The Senate of Canada: An Update-in-Progress (December 2016)
Poem written for the passing of Fidel Castro | An Elegy—Non-Partisan—for Fidel Castro (November 2016)
Poem written for the passing of Leonard Cohen | Elegy for Leonard Cohen (November 2016)
2016 Remembrance Day Poems | They trooped the colours | Homage to the Veterans of the Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs Constituency (November 2016)
Poem written and read by Mr. Clarke at his investiture │ Alexandria Alight (March 2016)
Poems to commemorate the Centre Block fire of 1916 │ Parliamentary Incendiary | No title (February 2016)
Honouring Pierre DesRuisseaux, Canada's 4th Parliamentary Poet Laureate │ Reading Pierre DesRuisseaux (January 2016)
Bibliography
News
Titles with an asterisk* are available in French only
The rock band U2 selected two of Mr. Clarke’s poems (“Elegy for Leonard Cohen” and “Ain't You Scared of the Sacred?: A Spiritual”) to scroll across screens at their concerts during The Joshua Tree at Thirty tour.
Photo: Laura Moss
CBC Books | George Elliott Clarke on his biggest writing turn-ons
The Mississauga News | George Elliott Clarke crashes local poetry party
Canada News Wire | George Elliott Clarke to mentor unpublished writers as judge of a national poetry contest
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax) | Canada’s Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke an observer of Nova Scotia’s past
Maclean’s | George Elliott Clarke takes risks in his new novel
Now Toronto | Django Unchains #oscarssowhite by George Elliott Clarke
Radio Canada International | BHM: George Elliott Clarke: The Motorcyclist (novel)
Ici Radio-Canada | Rencontre avec George Elliott Clarke, le nouveau poète officiel du Parlement fédéral *
The Globe and Mail│Review: George Elliott Clarke celebrates his father’s life in The Motorcyclist
CBC Radio: The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers | George Elliott Clarke explores race, class and Jane Austen
Toronto Star | Canada’s Parliamentary Poet Laureate creates “unforgettable” character who explores a racial divide and the divide within himself
The Globe and Mail | George Elliott Clarke: “George Elliott Clarke: 'I had to delight in crayons and Nancy Drew'”
CBC Books│Black History Month: Lawrence Hill, George Elliott Clarke pick young black authors to watch
Ottawa Citizen | Get your motor runnin’: George Elliott Clarke takes us on a wild ride
Ottawa Metro | George Elliott Clarke turns to father’s 1959 journal for inspiration
Ici Radio-Canada | George Elliott Clarke est le nouveau poète officiel du Parlement *
The Varsity | Canada’s George Elliott Clarke named Canada’s poet laureate
Hants Journal | Canada’s Poet Laureate: In conversation with Windsor’s George Elliott Clarke
Toronto Star | George Elliott Clarke named parliamentary poet laureate
CBC News: Nova Scotia | George Elliott Clarke named Canada’s new parliamentary poet laureate
The Globe and Mail | Nova Scotia’s George Elliott Clarke named parliamentary poet laureate
The Globe and Mail | George Elliott Clarke, a poet laureate with a social conscience
La Presse | George Elliott Clarke, nouveau poète officiel du Parlement *
Le Journal de Montréal | George Elliott Clarke nommé poète officiel du Parlement du Canada *
Ici Radio-Canada | Un Néo-Écossais devient le poète officiel du Parlement *
The Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons announced Canada’s 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate