ON THIS DAY

February 12, 1960 – Playwright and poet George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor Plains, N.S. A recurring theme in Clarke’s work, which is often lyrical in tone, is the history and culture of Black communities in Canada, particularly in Nova Scotia. He refers to himself as “Africadian,” a term he coined for the descendants of Black Loyalists in the Maritimes.

Clarke won the Governor General’s Award for poetry in 2001 for his collection Execution Poems.