Self-Discovery and the Quest for an Aesthetic, The Emergence of Black Canadian Literature: 1975 Towards the Millennium

The following is a short history on the evolution of black Canadian literature, my quest for an aesthetic and an identity as an artist in contemporary Canada during the latter part of the twentieth century. Though reference is made to many writers, this documentary I must add, is not conclusive; French language writers are not included because of my limited command of the language. Like most black Canadian artists, I believe that my role is defined within "the sensibility that assumes the artist is responsible not only for documenting and interpreting cultural experiences, but also for projecting and expanding the soul of his/her people." This idea is also expressed by many late contemporary black writers including George Elliott Clarke, Ayanna Black and film maker Claire Prieto. Prieto declared that her creativity as a film maker is "to help us to understand our identity and our continually changing place in the world. To define our past and make us a future of our own design."