GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE. Born on February 12, 1960 at Windsor Plains, Nova Scotia, Clarke was raised in Halifax. Studying marine tropology and biblical blues poetry, he became a political activist and public advocate of Black culture.

George's poetry is written in a lyric, widely allusive style which frequently relates his religious, Black Loyalist heritage. These qualities can be seen from his earlier work, including the poetry collection Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues (1993).

While George has studied the Black literature of both Canadians and foreigners, he has given special attention to his regional Nova Scotia. Whylah Falls (1990) and Lush Dreams, Blue Exile (1994) represent both his recent and early work. He has edited a two-volume anthology of local "Africadian" writing, Fire on the Water (1991) and the anthology Eyeing the North Star: Directions in African-Canadian Literature (1997). In 1999, his verse-play Beatrice Chancy was published. His verse has appeared in various magazines, such as Descant and The New Quarterly, and in anthologies like The Atlantic.

At 31, George was pursuing his doctorate at Queen's University when he was named winner of the Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry for Whylah Falls. In 2001, he received the Governor General Literary Award for Poetry for his newest collection, Execution Poems. His newest book, Blue (Polestar, 2001), has just been nominated for the Pearson Canada Reader's Choice Award.

Aside from his extensive travels within Nova Scotia and across Canada, George Elliott Clarke continues to be an influential and resounding Maritime voice. He currently teaches English Literature at the University of Toronto.