Humanities
"Diaspora, Citizenship and Gender: Challenging the Myth of the Nation in African Canadian Women's Literature" in Canadian Woman Studies, 23 (2), 64-69
Black women writers in the Americas are engaged consciously or unconsciously in cross-border, cross-cultural dialogue. In opening up the critical spaces that recognize and value women's differences as well as their similarities, black women writers complicate and enhance discussions about identities, race, ethnicity, gender, colour, class, geography and sexuality. This cross-cultural dialogue situates the black […]
"Black Canadian Literature as Diaspora Transgression: The Second Life of Samuel Tyne" in TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 17, 31-49
This paper attempts to interrogate some of the challenges involved in the ar-ticulation of a black Canadian literature and suggests that such a literature may best be understood not as a set of “coherent” national narratives but as a complex engagement of the multiple diasporic experiences that inform and influence understandings of Canadian-ness. The study […]
"'The Real Toronto': Black Youth Experiences and the Narration of the Multicultural City" in Journal of Canadian Studies, 51 (3), 725-748
Looking back at more than 45 years of official multicultural policy in Canada, this article asks us to reflect on how the experiences of Black male youth in Toronto and the ways in which race, class, age, and gender intersect to alienate them from full access to educational and employment opportunities disrupt the construction of […]
The Black Atlantic Reconsidered: Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past
Readers are often surprised to learn that black writing in Canada is over two centuries old. Ranging from letters, editorials, sermons, and slave narratives to contemporary novels, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, black Canadian writing represents a rich body of literary and cultural achievement.
Black Writers Matter
"Black Writers? African, Bluesy, Classical, Disrespectful, Erudite, Fiery, Groovy, Haunting, Inspiring, Jazzy, Knowing, Liberating, Militant, Nervy, Optimistic, Pugnacious, Quixotic, Rambunctious, Seductive, Truculent, Urgent, Vivacious, Wicked, X-ray sharp, Yearning, Zesty. And so, they matter!" —George Elliott Clarke An anthology of African-Canadian writing, Black Writers Matter offers a cross-section of established writers and newcomers to the literary world who […]
"Glass" in Black Notes
This collection contains stories and poems written by 12 Black women; it is serendipitous that their voices blend seamlessly, and beautifully, even though the writers are intergenerational. The storytelling crosses local, national, and international cultural sensibilities, giving the reader a glimpse of the way the storytellers 'receive' and share 'Story'. The poets cut through emotional […]
The Outer Harbour
In his debut story collection, poet Wayde Compton explores the concept of place and identity in which characters and space merge to make narrative. These interconnected stories, imbued with the colour of speculative fiction, are towering in their conceits. As much as characters are revealed by what they do and say, in The Outer Harbour, […]