Canada’s Poet Laureate visits the University of Guelph
The Ontarion recently sat down with Dr. George Elliott Clarke, Canada’s newest Parliamentary Poet Laureate, and discussed poetry, young people, and hockey sticks.
Sierra Paquette-Struger: What is the poet laureate, and what is its function?
George Elliott Clarke: I am the seventh, the position began in 2001, and it was decided that the poet laureate should do three things: Represent poetry and Canadian poets in general, write poetry for state occasions, and thirdly, advise the Librarian of Parliament on the collection. Beyond that, it’s been up to each poet laureate to decide how he or she wants to fulfill their role, their duty. Each poet laureate is free to configure the position as we like.
SPS: What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure? Do you have any specific goals in place?
GEC: Yes, I do. I’d like there to be some kind of national treasury of poetry. I think there are a couple of ways that this could be achieved. One way might be to have an electoral map of Canada—or a map based on the constituencies of the country—and the idea is that you would click on your constituency, and you would have three poets’ names pop up with a couple of lines from each poet. It would show that every part of the country has had poets, that every part of the country has a poet or two that people like, and that sometimes these poets can be found in different parts of the country.
SPS: What does it mean to be a Canadian poet, and what is inspiring about being Canadian?
GEC: To be a Canadian poet is to be amongst the very best poets on the planet, for a simple reason: Canada is an elitist nation. We are hierarchical. We often don’t see that because we just see the donuts and the hockey sticks. We don’t think of the fact that our nation is actually set up in terms of hierarchy. The impact of that, the positive impact of that elitist orientation, is to ask our poets to be intellectual, to be educated, and to be familiar with more than one language. That means our poetry tends to be both learned in its structures and influences, and at the same time, an attempt at being down to earth. I think Canadian poets come from a culture that is very erudite, and poetry reflects that, but at the same time, it comes from a nation that is unsettled in its identity and never really has been settled in its identity. It is a polyphonic, multi-accented, multimedia, playful, and heightened poetry.
SPS: What animates you as a poet?
GEC: History. Big time. Because we are all subjects of history, and I don’t mean that in a Marxist sense, but in a biological sense. Everybody alive is the result of a process of survival. We may not know the stories of survival in our individual families, but the fact that we’re here means that plagues, natural disasters, wars, genocides, diseases were all survived by our ancestors. We’re here, so we should say happy birthday to everybody for making it here. But that also means that there’s histories of triumph as well as struggle. In the poetry I’m working on right now, I’m really interested in the history of slavery and the history of imperialism. I think it is fascinating to look at history in terms of what is still going on.
SPS: How can we get young people interested or engaged in poetry when it permeates youth culture?
GEC: Yeah, that’s right. It permeates youth culture, so why doesn’t it permeate the classroom? That’s the question. I think the answer is the false division between the “spoken word” and print poetry. Spoken word tends to be more vox pop, the voice of the people, and therefore more popular. Form is a way to help the audience understand what it is you’re saying. It gives them something to hang on to. You give them rhyme, they’re going to be waiting for the rhyme, and at the same time, they’re going to be judging the artistry of that rhyme. Rhyme is not easy, especially if you want to move away from cliches. That’s one of the most dynamic things about rap: the fact that dudes and ladies will rhyme parts of words sometimes, not a full rhyme. You can stretch the word, you can elongate the word, you can break the word up. If your speech doesn’t have rhythm, you’re probably dead. Poems should not be imprisoned in paper, they should not be held hostage in the library, poems should be out there in the A-I-R, in the atmosphere. Most importantly, poetry should be coming out of your own brain. We gotta break down those prejudices, and then we’ll have more young people interested in printed poetry.
SPS: What perspective could young people bring to poetry?
GEC: Poetry is an attempt at explaining the world to themselves and how they feel and why they feel it. That’s in essence what we’re all trying to do with poetry. It’s really an expression of an emotion that is given heightened expression. Poets cannot be afraid to try every aspect of poetry, it is an artform with many facets. You could try any type of poetry, and why not maximize the artform?
SPS: Any advice for young poets, young students in general?
GEC: Yep. Speak your truth. Be honest about how you feel. Say what you feel. Don’t be shy about it. Language is vast and the linguistic resources are unlimited. You should never be at a loss for words, and you should never think you can’t write something or that you shouldn’t write something. You need to express who you are in the world and you need to have your own voice, and you find that by learning how to say what you think and finding the imagery to describe it. One must feel free to be one’s self in poetry and explore whatever needs to be explored. Don’t let anyone say you can’t do this or you can’t write that. Write for yourself.
GEC’s visit was funded by the School of English & Theatre Studies and organized by Dr. Diana Manole.