Craft: Recent Canadian Poetry

Howard, Martin, Pollock, Power, Riddle

Canada, our neighbor to the north, is a much smaller country than the United States. They have approximately 38 million people compared to the U.S.’s 331 million. Despite the difference in size, Canada spends much more on the arts, than the United States. Canada spends approximately $1.4 Billion (in US dollars) on the arts whereas the United States (through the NEA) only spends approximately $34 million. However, because poetry is usually relegated to small presses, and despite the common language, very few Americans know of Canadian poets.

Only Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Anne Carson, and perhaps Karen Solie have broken through to American poetry readers. Yes, Americans tend to be solipsistic, and think everyone in the worlds thinks as we do, but there is more to it.

What is going on in Canadian poetry? How is it different? What can American poets learn from it?