Things to Do around Ottawa when you're Black by Michael Fraser
2023 CBC Poetry Prize longlist
Michael Fraser has made the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Things to Do around Ottawa when you're Black.
The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 16 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 23.
About Michael Fraser
Michael Fraser was published in Best Canadian Poetry in English 2013 and 2018. He has won numerous awards, including Freefall Magazine's 2014 and 2015 poetry contests, the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize, the 2018 Gwendolyn Macewen Poetry Competition and the League of Canadian Poets' 2022 Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize. His latest collection, With My Eyes Wide Open, was published in 2023. Fraser was named one of CBC Books Writers to Watch in 2022. He was also a reader for the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize.
Entry in five-ish words
"Ottawa experienced through my perspective."
The poems' source of inspiration
"The poem is part of a series of poems based on Gary Snyder's 1966 poem, Things to Do around Seattle. I wrote a sequence of poems exploring Canadian cities through my particular Black Canadian perspective. The main stipulation is I must have visited or lived in the Canadian city. The series has a total of 21 poems. I've definitely visited many Canadian cities. A few of the poems have been published and the ones about Toronto, Edmonton and Niagara were shortlisted for poetry prizes. Things to Do around Winnipeg when you're Black won the 2022 League of Canadian Poets' Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize.
The poem is infused with undercurrents alluding to First Nations and African Canadian historical experiences.- Michael Fraser
"Things to Do around Ottawa when you're Black is actually the second poem written in the series, and like the other poems, immerses the reader in the city's various wonders. However, there's always an off-kilter sense, a hint of anxiety, a canted angle when experiencing events. Things could always unravel at any second. For example, if someone accidentally misplaces their cell phone, you and your child could immediately be suspects number one and two. I use the example of ensuring to remember your lanyard if you're the keynote speaker at a conference, otherwise you might be denied entry to the event, even if you're the headliner. The poem is infused with undercurrents alluding to First Nations and African Canadian historical experiences. The implications of these histories always operate like an algorithm in the background. I use the lines 'speak to an elder and discover you are brothers from a hush, the two of you the background noise of continents colliding' to emphasize this sense of history consistently walking beside you."
First lines
after Gary Snyder
Start at Parliament Hill where the country's
stone symbols tumble a landslide through you.
Hear the heritage guide empty the homeland's narration.
So much history the whole day is caught in its stumble.
About the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize
The winner of the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a writing residency and have their work published on CBC Books. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.
If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the CBC Nonfiction Prize opens in January and the CBC Poetry Prize opens in April.
