TORONTO – Austin Clarke, the Toronto-based writer who won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his 2002 novel “The Polished Hoe,” has died. He was 81.
Over the course of his long career Clarke frequently wrote about the immigrant experience and being black in Canada.
“Certainly, there is no other black Canadian author who has been so heartily embraced as Austin Clarke,” wrote literary critic Donna Bailey Nurse in a 2003 profile published by the trade magazine Quill & Quire. Continue reading →
The pyramid
primordial mound
rising from the depths
ancient tomb of pharaohs
reflective sides mirroring the sun
gateway to the heavens beyond the earth
transforming the soul for its union with the gods.
The pyramid
tomb of the masses
forever trapped in its base
herded, cajoled & discarded
struggle, fight & kill each other
to sustain the few at the top of the pyre
bloated with their contempt, gorging on human flesh.
The pyramid
legacy of an ancient civilization
points to the heavens, the expanding universe
beyond the limits of our small finite world
to the full realization of our true being
a limitless spirit, capable of the impossible
together as one, sharing the gifts of the earth.
BREXIT – There are liars and then there’s Boris Johnson and Michael Gove Nick Cohen–The Guardian UK
The Brexit figureheads had no plan besides exploiting populist fears and dismissing experts who rubbished their thinking
Where was the champagne at the Vote Leave headquarters? The happy tears and whoops of joy? If you believed Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the Brexit vote was a moment of national liberation, a day that Nigel Farage said our grateful children would celebrate with an annual bank holiday.
Johnson and Gove had every reason to celebrate. The referendum campaign showed the only arguments that matter now in England are on the right. With the Labour leadership absent without leave and the Liberal Democrats and Greens struggling to be heard, the debate was between David Cameron and George Osborne, defending the status quo, and the radical right, demanding its destruction. Johnson and Gove won a dizzying victory with the potential to change every aspect of national life, from workers’ rights to environmental protection. Continue reading →
Published on Jun 25, 2016 – Education Minister, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine questions ‘What was the previous administration doing to improve the country’s education system?’ ….He wants profound changes. More in this report from Handel Duncan.
