tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7166980007894567511.post5683257943797256284..comments2023-11-05T01:47:31.719-07:00Comments on Black Bird Press News & Review: Toronto Star: Acclaimed Toronto author Austin Clarke dead at 81www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00807053122116593028noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7166980007894567511.post-31867975090589899002016-07-03T12:32:11.164-07:002016-07-03T12:32:11.164-07:00In New Jersey in the mid-70s, I discovered Austin ...In New Jersey in the mid-70s, I discovered Austin Clarke's trilogy - The Meeting Point (1967), Storm of Fortune (1973) and The Bigger Light (1975). Set in Toronto about West Indian immigrant life in Canada, these three novels remain dear to me as they mentored my own fiction writing about being black and adrift in the U.S. I never forgot how his work shed light on relationships and origin in the midst of migration, troubled family and inner conflict. His work gave me permission to focus on internally driven narratives.<br />His prolific writing inspires me still. Such a sense of irony. Upon winning the Harbourfront Festival Prize, he said, "I did not come to this city [Toronto] on September 29, 1959, as a writer. I came as a student. However, my career as a writer buried any contention of being a scholar and I thank Authors at Harbourfront Centre for saving me from the more painful life of the 'gradual student.'"Judyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16339209077677703496noreply@blogger.com