Language Acts: Anglo-Québec Poetry, 1976 to the 21st Century

Jason Camlot, Todd Swift

Véhicule Press, 2007 - Literary Criticism - 466 pages

Language Acts brings together twenty provocative essays on the state of English-language poetry in Québec since 1976. Born and raised during this historically resonant period of Trudeauism, organized Québecois nationalism, language legislation, and profound demographic and cultural change, Anglo-Québec poetry has come of age in the 21st century as a literature with its own distinct arguments about itself, and its own poetical acts in language. Language Acts features essays on many important, even canonical, figures such as Robert Allen, Anne Carson, Leonard Cohen, Louis Dudek, D.G. Jones, Irving Layton, Michael Harris, Erin Mouré, David McGimpsey, Robyn Sarah, and Peter Van Toorn, and on a wide range of poetry activities including those of the Véhicule Poets and the Montreal Spoken Word scene. This is the first critical collection of its kind to appear in over forty years and will set the terms used to discuss English language poetry in Québec for years to come.

Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 10
• The Montreal Poets 1957: 36
• What Now Montreal? 1985: 66
• Double Exile and Montreal EnglishLanguage Poetry 2001: 80
• Irving Layton Leonard Cohen and the Rest: 110
• Steps Through the Literary Politics: 131
• The Vehicule Poets: 148
• Spoken Word in Montreal: 165
• From the NeoEphemeral to the Odd Imbroglio: 179
• Literary Production: 194
• Michael Harriss BooJhwah Appalachianna: 232
• Montreal in the Poetry of Robyn Sarah: 254
• Anne Carson and the Unlost: 272
• Peter Van Toorn and Canada: 290
• An Appetite Abroad or David McGimpseys Burgerworld: 310
• Robert Allens: 323
• AngloQuebec Poetry Publishers C 19762006: 374
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 431
• CONTRIBUTORS: 451

About the author

ason Camlot is the author of two collections of poetry, "Attention All Typewriters" and "The Animal Library". His poems have appeared in "New American Poetry", "Queen Street Quarterly", and "100 Poets Against the War", among others. He teaches English Literature at Concordia University in Montreal.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Language Acts: Anglo-Québec Poetry, 1976 to the 21st Century
• Editors: Jason Camlot, Todd Swift
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Véhicule Press, 2007
• ISBN: 1550652257, 9781550652253
• Length: 466 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Canadian; Poetry / American / General