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Burlington Reads Meet the Author George Elliott Clarke

Author of The Motorcyclist

JUST ANNOUNCED - April 3: In celebration of National Poetry Month, local performance poets from The Burlington Slam Project will kick off this literary event sharing their passionate works inspired by literacy, nature, and the magical properties of finding your voice and following your heart.

Featured poets: Robyn Kaur Sidhu is a Queer, Punjabi-Canadian spoken word poet, Michelle Hillyard is an award-winning spoken word poet and professional introvert, Fira is a spoken word poet, Allison E.A. Wren is a poet and visual artist. Poetry readings are curated by Tomy Bewick.

Burlington Public Library is pleased to welcome back to Burlington, Canada's seventh Parliamentary Poet Laureate, widely acclaimed poet and playwright, bestselling author, and Officer of the Order of Canada, Dr. George Elliott Clarke to talk about his provocative 2016 novel, The Motorcyclist.

About the book

Carl Black is an intellectual and artist, a traveller, a reader and an unapologetic womanizer. A motorcyclist. He burns for the bohemian life, but is trapped in a railway porter’s prosaic—at times humiliating—existence.

Taking place over one dramatic year in Halifax, Nova Scotia, The Motorcyclist vividly recounts Carl’s travels and romantic exploits as he tours the backroads of the east coast and the bedrooms of a series of beautiful women.

Inspired by the life of George Elliott Clarke’s father, the novel tells the story of a black working-class man caught between the expectations of his times and gleaming possibilities of the open road. (Excerpted from Harper Collins Canada)

National Poetry Month at the Library

The Burlington Slam Project