Acclaimed poet-professor was an English student at Waterloo
1998 Arts Alumni Achievement Recipient: George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke is E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto, a position established specifically for a poet-professor. He is the author of nine poetry texts, three chapbooks, four plays in verse (and three opera libretti), a novel, a scholarly essay collection, and edited two anthologies. His plays and operas (one composed by James Rolfe and two composed by D.D. Jackson) have all been staged, and his two screenplays have been televised.
Although acclaimed for his poetry, Clarke has also won laurels for his work as an anthologist and scholar of African-Canadian literature, a field of study that he has pioneered. His honours include The Governor-General’s Literary Award for Poetry (2001), The National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry (2001), The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award (2004), The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship Prize (2005), The Frontieras Poesis Premiul (Romania, 2005), The Estelle and Ludwig Jus Memorial Human Rights Award (2005), The Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction (2006), The William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations (2008), The Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (2009), appointment to the Order of Nova Scotia (2006), and appointment to the Order of Canada (2008). Clarke has also received seven honorary doctorates.