Directions Home explores the trajectories and tendencies of African-Canadian literature within the Canadian canon and the socio-cultural traditions of the African Diaspora. Clarke showcases the importance of little-known texts, including church histories and slave narratives, and offers studies of autobiography, crime and punishment, jazz poetics, and musical composition. The collection also includes studies of significant contemporary writers such as George Boyd and Dionne Brand, and trailblazing African-Canadian intellectuals like A.B. Walker and Anna Minerva Henderson.
With its national, bilingual, and historical perspectives, Directions Home is an essential guide to African-Canadian literature.
George Elliott Clarke is E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto.