Canadian Poetry

Canada is essentially commercial and dead to anything like literature; it is a conventional, narrow, and materialistic country, and in such a country, where there is no public, there can be no people's poets or artists.

Louis Dudek, "Academic Literature" (1944), in Selected Essays and Criticism

To earlier poets in Canada, especially English-speaking Canada, this judgement of Montreal poet Louis Dudek must have seemed depressingly accurate. Perhaps in 1944 it was.

Since then, however, the culture has changed. Today in Canada there is a promising and occasionally vibrant poetic and literary culture. This has come about for several reasons.

Partly, I think, it reflects the contemporary Canadian's much higher level of education. It must also be the result of the average Canadian's being wealthier than in Dudek's time (he died in March 2001 after a long and worthy career). Today, also, we have much great social freedom. Finally, the wisdom of previous generations of Canadian poets, critics, and the reading public has also contributed to lifting standards to their present level.

At present, therefore, we have a reasonably well-educated reading public eager for new literary works.

At least, this is true in Canadian prose literature. Canada has produced a large number of very interesting literary and a few popular novelists.

In poetry, the matter is slightly different.

Poetry in this country has considerably advanced over the years in quality and acceptance. However, much more needs to be done.

We like to think now that poetry in this country will never return to its previous scanty and lamentable state, that the literary culture Canada attained in the 1960s will never end, but go forward to new artistic triumphs.

But is this likely?

On the whole, I suspect so. I think that the world turned a corner in the 20th century, away from barbarism and fascism, and away from despotic collectivism.

But I may be wrong . . . If I am wrong, then much of the culture we in this country have attempted to create and preserve, may eventually be lost.

Well, no point being gloomy. On to Canadian poetry, and its glorious accomplishments in recent decades!

[To Be Continued and Revised]

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Last modified: 10:50 AM 12/2/2001