Austin Clarke (novelist)
Austin Clarke | |
---|---|
Born | Austin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke July 26, 1934 St. James, Barbados |
Died | June 26, 2016 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | (aged 81)
Occupation |
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Nationality | Barbadian, Canadian |
Education | Trinity College, Toronto |
Period | 1960s–2016 |
Notable works | The Polished Hoe (2002) |
Austin Ardinel Chesterfield "Tom" Clarke, CM OOnt (July 26, 1934 – June 26, 2016),[1] was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and short story writer who was based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Among his notable books are novels such as The Polished Hoe (2002), memoirs including Membering (2015), and two collections of poetry, Where the Sun Shines Best (2013) and In Your Crib (2015).
Early life and education
Austin Clarke was born in 1934 in St. James, Barbados, where he received his early education in Anglican schools.[2] He taught at a rural school for three years. In 1955, he moved to Canada and attended the University of Toronto's Trinity College for two years.[2][3]
Career
Clarke was a reporter at the
In 1973, he was designated cultural attaché at the Barbadian embassy in
He was not the first Canadian writer of African origin, that distinction belonging to 19th-century author
An outspoken intellectual, he avoided talking about multiculturalism, hoping his own term omniculturalism could be accepted by people from both the political left and right.[3] He ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1977 Ontario general election.[2]
Clarke died on June 26, 2016, at the age of 81, in Toronto.[11][12][13][14]
Selected awards and honours
- 1980, Casa de las Américas Prize, Cuba
- 1992, Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature
- 1997, Lifetime Achievement Award from Frontier College in Toronto
- 1998, Member of the Order of Canada.
- 1999, Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for Excellence in Writing.
- 1999, W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize
- 2002, Giller Prize, for The Polished Hoe [2]
- 2003, Commonwealth Writers' Prize
- 2009, Toronto Book Award, for More.
- 2012, Harbourfront Festival Prize
Bibliography
Novels
- The Survivors of the Crossing (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1964)
- Amongst Thistles and Thorns (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1965)
- The Meeting Point (Toronto: Macmillan, 1967; Boston: Little, Brown, 1972)
- Storm of Fortune (Boston: Little, Brown, 1973)
- The Bigger Light (Boston: Little, Brown, 1975)
- The Prime Minister (Don Mills, Ont.: General Publishing, 1977)
- Proud Empires (London: Gollancz, 1986; Penguin-Viking, 1988, ISBN 978-0670817566)
- The Origin of Waves (McClelland & Stewart, 1997; winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize)
- The Question (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1999; nominated for a Governor General's Award)
- Commonwealth Writers' Prize)
- More (2008, winner of the City of Toronto Book Award)
Short story collections
- When He Was Free and Young and He Used to Wear Silks (Toronto: Anansi, 1971; revised edition Little, Brown, 1973)
- When Women Rule (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985)
- Nine Men Who Laughed (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1986)
- In This City (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1992)
- There Are No Elders (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1993)
- The Austin Clarke Reader, ed. Barry Callaghan (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1996)
- Choosing His Coffin: The Best Stories of Austin Clarke (Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2003)
- They Never Told Me: and Other Stories (Holstein, ON: Exile Editions, 2013)
- Canadian Experience (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1994)
Poetry
- Where the Sun Shines Best (Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2013)
- In Your Crib (Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2015)
Memoirs
- Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack: a Memoir (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1980; Thomas Allen, 2005, ISBN 978-0887621888)
- "A Stranger In A Strange Land", The Globe and Mail, Toronto, 15 August 1990, p. 30.
- Public Enemies: Police Violence and Black Youth (Toronto: HarperCollins, 1992)
- A Passage Back Home: A Personal Reminiscence of Samuel Selvon (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1994)
- Pigtails 'n Breadfruit: A Culinary Memoir (New Press, 1999); as Pigtails 'n' Breadfruit: The Rituals of Slave Food, A Barbadian Memoir (Toronto: ISBN 978-9766378820)
- Love and Sweet Food: A Culinary Memoir (Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2004; ISBN 978-0887621536)
- ′Membering (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2015)[15]
References
- ^ "Obituary: Austin Clarke, author". The Scotsman. 2016-06-27. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01.
- ^ a b c d e Whyte, Murray (2016-06-26). "Acclaimed Toronto author Austin Clarke dead at 81". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03.
- ^ a b c d Enright, Michael (February 17, 2019). Revisiting Austin Clarke's novel about memory, migration and a chance encounter (Radio program). CBC.
- ^ a b "Austin C. Clarke", Gale Contemporary Black Biography.
- ^ "Austin Clarke" Archived June 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- ^ "Austin Clarke", Alliaougana Festival website, 2010.
- ^ Austin Clarke biography at Bim Literary Festival and Book Fair, 2012.
- ^ Paul Irish, "Austin Clarke wins Harbourfront Festival Prize", TheStar.com, September 28, 2012.
- ^ Mark Medley, "Austin Clarke wins Harbourfront Festival Prize". Archived January 29, 2013, at archive.today, National Post, September 27, 2012.
- ^ "Austin Clarke named recipient of the Harbourfront Festival Prize". Archived July 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Open Book Toronto, September 28, 2012.
- ^ "Tom Clarke passes". The Daily Nation. 2016-06-26. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01.
- ^ "Austin CLARKE Obituary (1934 - 2016) - Legacy Remembers". National Post. 2016-07-05. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13.
- ^ "Austin Clarke, author of The Polished Hoe, dead at 81". CBC News. 2016-06-26. Archived from the original on 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Austin Clarke, Canadian Author Who Explored Black Experience, Dies at 81". The New York Times. 2016-06-27. Archived from the original on 2016-10-24.
- ^ "′Membering" page Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine at Dundurn.
External links
- Austin Clarke interview by Linda Richards, January magazine, November 2002.
- Famous Canadian Immigrant Authors
- Austin Clarke's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Order of Canada citation
- "Austin Clarke", English-Canadian Writers, Athabasca University.
- Carol Brennan, "Austin C. Clarke", Gale Contemporary Black Biography.
- "Austin Clarke fonds - Search Research Collections". McMaster University Library. William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections. Retrieved 4 June 2020.