Black History Month and the Fisher Library

In celebration of Black History Month, which begins today, the Fisher would like to highlight a number of its collections that showcase some of our African-Canadian authors, particularly our modern manuscript holdings.

George Elliott Clarke is one Canada’s finest poets and playwrights, as well as a professor of English at the University of Toronto. His work explores and chronicles the history and experience of the Black Canadian community, particularly on the east coast of Canada. He writes eloquently of the country’s multicultural landscape , emphasizing that its history stretches back much further than the waves of Caribbean and African immigrants who arrived in his own generation.

Clarke donated his first batch of papers to the Fisher in 2007 and it includes both correspondence and manuscripts, along with other varied material related to his life and work. Link here for the finding aid to his collection.

Lawrence Hill won great acclaim with his much-lauded third novel, The Book of Negroes. The book won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen Award and CBC Radio’s Canada Reads. He is son of American immigrants – a black father and a white mother – who came to Canada the day after they married in 1953 in Washington, D.C. Growing up in the predominantly white suburb of Don Mills, Ont., in the sixties, Hill was greatly influenced by his parents’ work in the human rights movement. Much of his writing touches on issues of identity and belonging.

Hill began donating his papers to the Fisher in 2008. Link here for the finding aid to his collection.

Lorna Goodison is an internationally acclaimed author known chiefly for her poetry. She has published eleven collections of poems – her book I Am Becoming My Mother (1996) won the Commonwealth Writers Prize – and two collections of short stories. She is also a visual artist and has exhibited her paintings internationally. Her own artwork is usually featured on the covers of her books. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, she now resides in Toronto.

She began donating her papers to the Fisher in 1998, and has subsequently donated a number of times through the years. Link here and here for the finding aids to her collections.

Afua Cooper is a scholar, author, and poet. Born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, she moved to Canada in December 1980 as a direct result of the increasing political violence in Jamaica. She earned her Ph.D. in Canadian history and the African Diaspora with a focus on the Black communities of 19th century Ontario. She has done ground-breaking work on the enslavement of Black people in Canada. Such research has resulted in the books The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Slavery in Canada and The Burning of Old Montréal (HarperCollins, 2006). Angélique has become a national bestseller and was nominated for the Governor General’s Award in 2006. She has also published five books of poetry, the latest of which is titled Copper Woman and Other Poems (Natural Heritage Press, 2006). She is currently the James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie.

She donated her first accession of papers in 2008. It includes personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts and material related to her academic work, including extensive work related to the history of slavery. Link here for the finding aid.

Rudyard (Rudy) Fearon came to Canada in 1974 and began working at the University of Toronto Libraries in 1982. He’s published (including audio) three collections of poetry: Free soil, Spin and Noise in My Mind. Specialzing in dramatic and physical performances of his words, he performs at many venues across the Greater Toronto Area. He was also featured in the film Heart of a poet.

The finding aids for his collections can be found here and here. He recently performed at the opening of the Fisher’s Derek Walcott Exhibit, "How Beautiful My Brethren and Sistren: Derek Walcott, Life and Work." The video can be found here.

Images: (top) Manuscript drafts for George Elliott Clarke's Black (MS Coll 00558, Box 92); Lawrence Hill book for Book of Negroes (MS Coll 00593, Box 54); (bottom) Original ink drawing by Lorna Goodison for Goldengrove (MS Coll 00524, Box 9); Drafts of early poems by Rudy Fearon (MS Coll 00400, Box 1)