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Clifton Joseph

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clifton Joseph is a Canadian dub poet.[1] He is most noted for his 1989 album Oral/Trans/Missions, from which the song "Chuckie Prophesy" was a shortlisted Juno Award finalist for Best Reggae Recording at the Juno Awards of 1990.[2]

A native of Antigua, Joseph moved to Canada with his family in the 1970s.[3] He published the poetry book Metropolitan Blues in 1983, but has been associated primarily with performance poetry.[3] Alongside Lillian Allen and Devon Haughton, he was one of the pioneers of dub poetry in Canada;[4] the three collaborated on the compilation album De Dub Poets in 1982.[5]

Joseph has also been a broadcaster and journalist, including stints as a correspondent for TVOntario's literary program Imprint,[6] as a reporter for CBC Television's news series Undercurrents, Marketplace and The National,[5] and as a writer for the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. He was a two-time winner of the Gemini Award for Best Writing in an Information Program or Series for his work on Undercurrents in 1998[7] and 1999.[8]

In 2017, he was nominated for the League of Canadian Poets' Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for spoken word poets.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Scat, rap, soca, soul, a dub poet sings it all". Toronto Star, April 5, 1988.
  2. ^ "Up for Junos". Edmonton Journal, February 8, 1990.
  3. ^ a b "Dub poet Clifton Joseph; Verse comes at so many syllables to the bar". Ottawa Citizen, September 6, 1992.
  4. ^ "The poetry of resistance". Halifax Daily News, November 24, 1999.
  5. ^ a b "Clifton Joseph to perform at Dub Trinity tonight". Peterborough Examiner, March 27, 2003.
  6. ^ "Book some time for Imprint". The Globe and Mail, October 3, 1990.
  7. ^ "Gemini winners". Toronto Star, October 5, 1998.
  8. ^ "CBC News big Gemini winner on first night". Welland Tribune, November 6, 1999.
  9. ^ "National Poetry Month celebrated with award nominations". Toronto Star, April 6, 2017.