49TH PARALLEL PSALM
Wayde Compton's first poetry book: a stunning set of poems documenting the migration of Blacks to Canada, specifically when the first Black settlers-facing an increasingly hostile racist government-left San Francisco and travelled north to British Columbia beginning in 1858.
With recurring themes of the unknowable, the crossroads, the trickster, and entropy, 49th Parallel Psalm jumbles history, time, and the Canadian black literary canon.
Shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.
Wayde Compton is a Canadian poet, essayist, and novelist. Alongside fellow authors David Chariandy and Karina Vernon, Compton co-founded Commodore Books, the first Black Canadian Literary Press. He is also the co-founder of the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project, an organization that preserves Vancouver’s Black community history.
Other publications from this author include: