Category: Canadian Poetry
Video for Poetry in Translation (4)/George Elliott Clarke and Anna Yin
George Elliott Clarke and Anna Yin discussed poetry, translations and life experiences with writing poetry related to political issues, difficult history and identity etc. They also shared the view of poets laureate’s role for politics.
The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry. Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University. Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer. His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry,, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award.
Videos for Poetry in Translation (2): A.F.Moritz and Anna Yin
A.F. Moritz and Anna Yin discussed poetry, translations and life experiences. They also talked about how other poets’ work had inspired their own writing. Here are videos from the event.
Main part:
Q/A part
Poetry in Translation: Molly Peacock and Anna Yin was a great success
Our first session: Poetry in Translation: Molly Peacock and Anna Yin was a great success. There were 91 people joined us. Thank you Molly, Yang and all poetry/translation lovers, book lovers for supporting. Thank the League of Canadian Poets for funding. Thanks Guerinca Editions.
Here also from Molly’s thank-you note:
The conversation between Anna Yin and Molly Peacock about poetry translation from English to Chinese launched lots of ideas, and we so appreciate your support, either in person or in spirit.
谢谢 /多謝
A partial list of over 90 Canadian and American attendees, from Boston to Maryland, from Ottawa to Costa Rica to Detroit, from Vancouver to Colorado and from New York to Toronto, with gratitude from Molly for your presence, oh poets and translators, lawyer and arborist, IT coder and actor, painter, print-maker & portraitist, financiers and fiction writers, therapists, nonfiction writers, teachers and editors–& scholar-husband:
Gary Alexander, Bernice Baeumler, Susan Boone, Cathie Borrie, Helen Bournas-Ney, Lara Bozabalian, Madeleine Brown, Amy C. Clark, Mike Curtis, Dana Delibovi, Alison Edwards, Cindy Frenkel, Davidson Garrett, Michael Groden, Rachel Hadas, Jenine Holmes, Bob Kaplan, Mary Louise Kiernan, Anita Lahey, Deena Linett, Ashley Mabbitt, Wendy Mark, Bronwyn Mills, Irina Nikolova, Dawn Hansen Pergakes, Craig Poile, Ellen Rachlin, Janet Read, Patria Rivera, Lindsay Royce, Dale Matthews Satorsky, Jane Seskin, Terrill Soules, Norman Stock, Tim Suermondt, Helen Tzagoloff, David Williams, Joyce Wilson, and Pui Ying Wong.)
Here are slides and chat file at the events.
George Elliott Clarke – Review Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac by Anna Yin
Anna Yin is a startling dreamer. Poems that seem Romantic veer into Surrealism or Symbolism. Tutored in Sylvia Plath and William Carlos Williams, among many other poets (mainly American and Canadian), Yin issues poems that are nightmare dreams or dreamy nightmares: Here’s a world where the natural becomes unnatural, the unnatural natural: “the police-monkey escorts a well-suited rat / followed by his cloned brothers…” Some poems are parables, such as the story of a man- a father-who refuses to leave his home, even while it and others are being reduced to rubble: “I received a copy of the photo in the local newspaper. / My father looked so small on the top of the ruins. / It was titled, ‘The Last Temple.’”
In another poem, the speaker says, “You are tired of his / molding, over and over, / thrashing, nailing / into you.” There’s a fierce feminism here, reinforced by readings of Dot Livesay and Dame Atwood. Though it’s tricky following Yin’s wicked, impressionistic juxtapositions, her painterly imagery is deliciously lustrous.
Yin is endlessly perspicacious, endlessly compelling: “The autumn gusts feel warm / as if it’s spring…. / last night by accident I cut my finger… / slowly, on the rice paper, red roses grew.” She brings to Canadian poetry a sense of classicism and aestheticism and minimalism, all nicely mixed up with sensuality.
Yin’s bravura poems – so exquisite and extraordinary – merit bravo upon bravo.
Publisher’s website:
The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry. Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University. Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer. His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award. Photo Credit of George Elliott Clarke : Harvard University.
Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-2017) and has authored five collections of poetry. Her poems/translations have appeared at ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, World Journal etc. Anna won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTYs, two scholarships from West Chester University Poetry Conference, three grants from OAC and 2013 Professional Achievement Award from CPAC. She performed her poetry on Parliament Hill and has been featured at 2015 Austin International Poetry Festival and 2017 National poetry month project etc. She teaches Poetry Alive at schools, colleges and libraries. Her website: http://www.annapoetry.com/
© George Elliott Clarke/Anna Yin
Poetry in Translation /East Meets West (Ongoing…)
A series of online events focus on poetry and translation by reading and discussing original poems then translations between poets and translator. The poets are George Elliott Clarke, Molly Peacock, Alice Major and A. F. Moritz, and the translator is Anna Yin
Each session lasts 90 minutes and involves one English-language poet and the Chinese translator to discuss techniques and adaptability required and close-reading poems of different styles and subjects.
- Aug 14, Molly Peacock and Anna Yin (see video)
- Aug 29, A.F.Moritz and Anna Yin (see video)
- Sept 11, Alice Major and Anna Yin (see video)
- Sept 25. George and Anna Yin (see video)
Oct 3, 15:00-16:30 the group session on Zoom -a summary with the above poets and open mic
Molly Peacock’s latest poetry collections are The Analyst and Cornucopia: New and Selected Poems. She is the series founder of The Best Canadian Poetry and the co-founder of Poetry in Motion on New York’s subways and buses. Her poems appear in leading literary journals such as Poetry, The Malahat Review and The Hudson Review, and are anthologized in The Oxford Book of American Poetry. Author of a one-person play about poetry, The Shimmering Verge, she is working on Form with Feeling, a collection of essays.
A. F. Moritzis the 6thPoet Laureate of Toronto. His most recent books are As Far As You Know (2020) and The Sparrow: Selected Poems (2018), both from House of Anansi Press. In 2015, Princeton University Press republished his 1986 volume in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, The Tradition. He has published nineteen books of poems, and several volumes of poetry translated from French and Spanish. His poetry has received the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Beth Hokin Prize of Poetry magazine, and other awards.
Alice Major‘s 11th poetry collection is “Welcome to the Anthropocene”. published by the University of Alberta Press. Science has been a source of inspiration for much of her work, including an award-winning collection of essays: “Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science.” Alice served as the first poet laureate for her home city of Edmonton and her honours include an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Alberta. www.alicemajor.com
The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry. Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University. Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer. His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry,, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award.
Online Reading for National Poetry Month from poets in Tamaracks and In A Fragile Moment
On Tuesday, April 21st, there was to be a poetry reading at the Annette Public Library. It would have featured eight poets from both Tamaracks, published by Lummox Press, as well as In A Fragile Moment, released by Hidden Brook Press.
COVID19 cancelled the reading. However, poetry is indomitable.
We have brought the event to you in another format. Please enjoy this collaboration, and celebrate National Poetry Month!
Eight Poets Reading as following:
James Deahl is the author of twenty-eight literary titles, the three most recent being: Travelling The Lost Highway, Red Haws To Light The Field, and To Be With A Woman. A cycle of his poems is the focus of the U.S. television documentary Under the Watchful Eye. He lives in Sarnia, Ontario, with the writer Norma West Linder.
Norma West Linder is the author of seven novels, fifteen poetry collections, two children’s books, a collection of short stories, a play, a memoir, and a biography of Ontario Lt. Governor Pauline McGibbon. Her selected poetry, Adder’s-tongues, was published by Aeolis House in 2012. She is the mother of two daughters and a son. Linder lives in Sarnia.
Allan Briesmaster’s Reading
A literary editor and publisher, Allan Briesmaster is the author of eight full-length books of poetry and eight shorter books. He has given readings and hosted poetry events at venues across Canada. His newest book, The Long Bond: Selected and New Poems, was published last fall by Guernica Editions.
Bruce Meyer’s Reading
Bruce Meyer is author of editor of 63 books of poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, and non-fiction. His most recent collection of poems is McLuhan’s Canary (Guernica Editions, 2019). He lives in Barrie, Ontario, and teaches at Georgian College and at Victoria College in the University of Toronto. He was the City of Barrie’s inaugural Poet Laureate from 2010 to 2014.
Keith Inman’s Reading
Keith Inman is an internationally published poet. His books, War Poems and SEAsia (Seize-ya) from Black Moss, can be found in major libraries across North America. The craziest review he’s ever received was in Canlit #223, which compared his work to Atwood, Boyden and Itani. Keith lives in Niagara.
Patrick Connors’ Reading
Pat Connors first chapbook, Scarborough Songs, was published by Lyricalmyrical Press in 2013, and charted on the Toronto Poetry Map. He contributed to Bottom of the Wine Jar, published by SandCrab Books in 2017.
Other publications include Blue Collar Poetry; Tamaracks; and Tending the Fire, a new chapbook by the League of Canadian Poets. His first full manuscript is forthcoming.
Anna Yin’s Reading
Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-2017) and has authored five collections of poetry. Her poems/translations have appeared at ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, World Journal etc. Anna won several awards and performed her poetry on Parliament Hill and 2015 Austin International Poetry Festival etc. Her Poetry Alive workshops are welcomed at schools.
Richard M. Grove’s Reading
Richard M. Grove lives in Presqu’ile Provincial Park, half way between Toronto and Kingston. He is the man of 7 Ps – Poet, Publisher, Photographer, Painter, President, Public Speaker, Potter. He runs Hidden Brook Press and is the founding president of the Canada Cuba Literary Alliance.