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Canadian Classics: Poetry

© Paula E. Kirman

Canada has a history of classic literary works, as we began to examine last time. Not only are there several widely noted Canadian novelists, but also poets.

Leonard Cohen is one writer who fits into both categories. He is probably better known as a poet and songwriter than as a novelist, thanks to the success of such folk classics as Suzanne, plus the fact that many international recording artists have performed his songs. Interpretations of Cohen's songs by the likes of Jennifer Warnes and Joan Baez have helped him reach an audience that perhaps would not have been able to hear beyond his unique vocal style.

Robert Kroetsch is also a novelist/poet, and behind W. O. Mitchell, probably the best-known and loved author on the Prairies. It was he who asked the question, in poetic form of course, of "How do you grow a poem?" He is the father of Post-Modernism in Canadian literature, both in poetry and prose.

Irving Layton, with his quick wit and sardonic style, is a Canadian legend of a poet. In his work he often deals with his Jewish background and social issues. Another Jewish Canadian poet, A. M. Klein, often dealt with his heritage in his work and is one of the last Canadian poets before the post-modern era, who actually wrote poems that rhyme!

Earle Birney will always be remembered for his poem David. Many of us who watched a lot of CBC in the 1980's will remember the short dramatic film on which that poem was based. Not only is it full of lyrical imagery, of two young men hard at work in the Mountains, but it also deals with the ethical and moral dilemma of euthanasia.

Beth Goobie's Scars of Light is a disturbing, deelply personal work that shook up the literary community when it was published in the mid-1990's. She attacked the horrific subject matter of ritual child abuse, mostly drawn from her own experiences and those of her siblings. As well, her novels for young adults are some of the most relevant ones I have ever read in the genre.

Milton Acorn was known as "the People's Poet." He had a down to earth quality in his writing that still inspired other writers to this day. There is an annual poetry contest in his name.

Some major names in contemporary Canadian poetry include Lorna Crozier, Di Brandt (besy known for her writings on the Middle East situation), Douglas Barbour (who writes poems made of vocal sound effects).

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