Overview
After nine years and nine trade printings, Gaspereau Press is issuing a revised and redesigned second edition of its most popular title. Originally released in 2000 in a limited edition of 66 books handset and printed letterpress in a folio format, Execution Poems has gone on to sell over 6000 copies. It was the winner of the 2001 Governor General’s award for poetry and took first place in the poetry category of the 2001 Alcuin Awards for Excellence in Canadian Book Design.
Execution Poems is a suite of poems about Clarke’s cousins, George and Rufus Hamilton, who were hanged in July 1949 for the murder of a Fredericton, New Brunswick, taxi driver. In this startling work, Clarke reminds us of racism and poverty and of their brutal, tragic results, blurring the line between the perpetrator and the victima line we’d prefer to be simple and clear. As all true poetry should, Clarke’s embodies both damnation and redemption, offering convoluted triumphs alongside tragedy.
George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays and poetry. His publications include titles in Braille, Chinese, Italian, and Romanian. The inaugural E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. His recognitions include the Bellagio Center Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the Premiul Poesis (Romania), the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), Encyclopedic Poetry School: International Fellow (China), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award.
Reader Reviews
Tell us what you think!
Sign Up or Sign In to add your review or comment.
Related Blog Posts
February 12, 2022
In celebration of Black History Month, we're shining a spotlight on some stellar Black authors (and additional author contributors) to keep your eye out for across genres.
October 24, 2019
Mixed/adopted Mi’kmaw and Newfoundland poet Douglas Walbourne-Gough took time to chat with us about his debut
Crow Gulch (Goose Lane Editions), a poetry collection that attempts to honour and dispel the stigma surrounding the community of Crow Gulch in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. ... Read more
October 6, 2015
Gaspereau Press of Kentville, Nova Scotia was established in 1997 with the launch of its literary quarterly, The Gaspereau Review, and first three books. Soon partners Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield were publishing eight titles a year and by 2000 they had purchased a printing ... Read more
January 14, 2015
by George Elliott Clarke
Twentieth Century Mexican history has given the world the wonderfully oxymoronic political entity, The Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (which sounds a bit like Canada’s Progressive Conservative party). I think of it whenever I think about reports of 1) the demise ... Read more