greg elliot bagpipe player fountain valley ca

Unlike our ancestral Refugee relatives, we are acutely aware of its importance as an historical event. With the publication of this volume of poetry, another chapter of history unfolds. Who in such circumstances could think of history? Given the harsh conditions they had just escaped, they were no doubt relieved to simply feel safe, away from the guns, hard labour and enslavement. When Black Refugees arrived in Nova Scotia following the War of 1812, it is unlikely that they were aware history was being made. The history, especially, is important to him and is mirrored in his creative work. He has read and intently studied the history and literature of Blacks in Nova Scotia, Canada and elsewhere. George wears his heritage like an emblem with warm pride and gentle enthusiasm. Part of George's job at the Centre was to draft a computer handbook for use by people with little or no computer experience. Within a very short time, George had mastered the machine and began composing poetry on the computer. In February, 1981, he became captivated with computers while working in an underground office of the Metropolitan Toronto Roads and Traffic Commission's Control Centre. Yet George is also good humoured and inventive. These qualities shine through his writing which is both passionate and reasoned. He is also sincere and disarmingly honest. One can't help but admire and be drawn to George. I'd make a pot of tea and we would end up talking for hours not only about his current preoccupation with issues facing Black Youth, but about literature, politics, people, music, writing, and the Bible. He would often stop by to talk about the BYO. Along with his friends and colleagues he organized a conference which brought together youth from across the province. 1īefore George went to the University of Waterloo, he was deeply involved in organizing the Black Youth Organization (BYO) in Nova Scotia.

As I talked to her, it struck me that George would have been barely six years old when the bulldozers began razing Africville. Geraldine likes his poems about Africville Seaview and Guysborough Baptist Churches. Spirituality is an important part of George's poetry but he is never dogmatic. It's more worn, she says than a minister's Bible it is coverless and very much out of shape. Geraldine says George has an old Bible, one that is ragged and torn, with paper markers throughout. When home, he always manages a trip to Windsor Plains to visit aunts, uncles and cousins. Though he left Windsor Plains when just a few months old, his mother, Geraldine, says his heart is still there. George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor Plains in 1960 which makes him twenty-three at the time of this publication. The Christmas Song of the African Fishers. That Stars are Winged Creatures Over a Blue World. The Book of JubileeInvocation of the Prophet. Watercolour for Negro Expatriates in France. Sydney African Methodist Episcopal Church.

16Īmherst African Methodist Episcopal Church. 5Īfricville Seaview African Baptist Church. ContentsINTRODUCTION by Sylvia Hamilton. Photography Sources: Black United Front, The Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University Archives, David Middleton. PR9199.3.C55S34 Copyright 1983 George Elliott ClarkeĪcknowledgments: The Pottersfield Portfolio, Caribe, Ebony (Black) Express News, Scrivener, Skylight, The Antigonish Review, Germination, Poetry Toronto, Origins, Poet's Haus, dandelion and Quarry. 'How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?'įor William and Geraldine Clarke, Portia White and Conrad Kent Rivers.Ĭanadian Cataloguing Publication Data Clark, George Elliott, 1960. Support for this publication was provided by the Multiculturalism Program, Government of Canada. 1983, in the University of King's College Library, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, January-July 2002Įncoding: Encoded in TEI-conformant SGML by Ronald Tetreault and the class members of English 4010 at Dalhousie University, with significant help from Vivien Hannon of the Dalhousie ETC.

Source: Edited from a copy of Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues, Porter's Lake N.S. Publication: Electronic hypertext hosted by the Dalhousie University Electronic Text Centre April 2002 reproduced electronically with permission of the copyright holder. Responsibility: Ronald Tetreault and Vivien Hannon, chief editors and compositors Gregory, Derek Huffman, Matthew Langille, Susan Mersereau, Lesley Newhook, Mark Palermo, Jennifer Romans, Dareen Sakalla, Jennifer Spencer, Stephen Troister, and Florence Yoon (who were class-members of English 4010 at Dalhousie University, under the supervision of Ronald Tetreault, January-April 2002)Įdition: First edition, Porter' s Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1983

Saltwater Spirituals Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues, an Electronic EditionĮditors: Edited by Mark Callan, Quentin Casey, Michael Fountain, Chuck Freeman, Valentyna Galadza, J.

Greg elliot bagpipe player fountain valley ca