The Learning Zone

Join us at the Learning Zone Tuesday November 11th, 5 – 7 pm, for the book launch of Indigenous Poetics in Canada presented by The Indigenous Visual Culture Program at OCAD U. With special guests editor Neal McLeod, authors Lillian Allen and Lee Maracle, with introductions by Mark Dickinson.

Neal McLeod, Associate Professor in the Indigenous Studies Department at Trent University was raised Cree on the James Smith Reserve in Saskatchewan. McLeod is also a National Aboriginal Poetry Award recipient for his first book of poetry, Songs to Kill a Wihtikow.

Authors Lillian Allen, Canadian “dub poet” and prolific First Nation writer Lee Maracle are among the twenty-eight contributors to Indigenous Poetics in Canada.

Featuring work by academics and poets, the book examines four elements of Indigenous Poetics. First, it explores the poetics of memory: collective memory, the persistence of Indigenous poetic consciousness, and the relationships that enable the Indigenous storytelling process. The book then explores the poetics of performance: Indigenous poetics exist both in written form and in relation to an audience. Third, in an examination of the poetics of place and space, the book considers contemporary Indigenous poetry and classical Indigenous narratives. Finally, in a section on the poetics of medicine, contributors articulate the healing and restorative power of Indigenous poetry and narratives.

Observational drawings from Echo Railton’s first and second year drawing (DRPT 1CO2) and figurative class (DRPT 207) are currently on display at the Learning Zone.