The Acorn picture I want to convey is of a maverick and
outsider, a man who speaks out at the wrong time, asks
embarrassing questions of human society, and will not be
satisfied by evasions. Al Purdy
Milton Acorn (1923-1986) was, when alive, one of the most controversial Canadian poets, and since his death, there has been a growing interest in his life and poetic vision.
Acorn won the People’s Poetry Award forty years ago (1970) for his incisive and evocative missive, I’ve Tasted My Blood, and he was awarded the Governor General’s Award thirty-five years ago (1975) for The Island Means Minago. Both books of poetry walk the attentive reader into the white heat political vision of Acorn.
The fact that Acorn is one of Canada’s finest poets has meant that biographers have been keen to track and trace his unusual life and poetic journey. Out of This World: The Natural History of Milton Acorn (1996) and Milton Acorn: In Love and Anger (1999) tell the tale well of Acorn’s hard and demanding journey, but both tomes fail to properly deal with Acorn’s deeper Christian commitment.
Acorn was both a political and prophetic poet, and, as such, he could not be fitted into the partisan politics of the political left, right or centre. He was fond of George Grant and C.S. Lewis, and Acorn’s High Church Anglicanism was at the core and centre of his being. Acorn sought to live and write in such a way that his poetry embodied and reflected the voices and concerns of those on the margins. In short, his faith and his sense of ecology, justice and peace were integrated at a demanding and profound level.
The fact that there is growing interest in Acorn yet once again means that three books are in the womb on Acorn that should be published in 2010-2011. These books will cover some of his finest poetry and critical essays on his poetry, science fiction, plays and prose. Acorn can be, for those that are interested in the artistic journey, a guide into the troubled waters of faith, poetry and prophetic politics. There have been few Christian poets in Canada of Acorn’s stature, and we still have much to learn from this acorn turned oak.
Ron Dart
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