Milton James Rhode Acorn
(March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed The People's
Poet by his peers, was a Canadian
poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in
Charlottetown
, Prince Edward Island
.
Acorn was a
World War II veteran.
On a
trans-Atlantic
crossing, he
suffered a wound from depth charges. The wound was severe
enough for him to receive a disability pension from Veterans
Affairs for most of his life.
He returned to Prince Edward Island and moved
to Montreal
in
1956. He spent several years living at the Hotel Waverly
in Toronto.
In Montreal, he published some of his early poems in the political
magazine,
New Frontiers. He also self-published a
mimeographed chapbook,
In Love and Anger, his first
collection of poems.
In 1967, Acorn helped found the then-"underground" newspaper
The Georgia Straight
in Vancouver, BC.
Acorn was awarded the
Canadian Poets Award in 1970 and the
Governor General's Award in
1976 for his collection of poems,
The Island Means
Minago.
In July 1986, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the
hospital. Acorn died in his home town of Charlottetown on August
20, 1986, due to complications associated with his heart condition
and diabetes. According to a fellow poet named
James Deahl, he had "lost his will to live after
the death of a younger sister."
Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award
In 1987, the Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award was established in
his memory by
Ted Plantos. It is
presented annually to an outstanding "people's poet." The award is
$250 (since raised to $500) and a medallion, modelled after the one
given to Milton Acorn.
Acorn on film
The
National Film Board of
Canada produced two films on Acorn's life and works. The first
is entitled
In Love and Anger: Milton Acorn - Poet, and
came out in 1984. The NFB's abstract of the film reads:
Acorn left Prince Edward Island in the late 1940s to
earn his living as an itinerant carpenter, and wound up in Toronto
as one of Canada's most highly regarded poets and one of its most
outrageous literary figures. Dubbed "The People's Poet" by fellow
poets, he won the Governor General's Literary Award in 1976.
Subject to bi-polar disorder and burned out by personal crises,
Acorn moved back to Charlottetown in 1981. This film, directed by a
P.E.I. filmmaker, brings out Acorn's wit, love of nature,
unorthodox political views, and sometimes infuriating personal
contradictions."[11065]
The second is called
A Wake for Milton. It was produced in
1988. The NFB abstract for this film reads, "Canadian poet, Milton
Acorn, is remembered with feeling and eloquence in this tribute
that takes the form of a wake. Cedric Smith acts as the singer of
Acorn's life and art, while such friends as
Al
Purdy,
Pat Lane, and former wife
Gwendolyn MacEwen recall the man
known as 'The People's Poet.' Evoked here is the unique mixture of
intense emotion, wit and radical politics that identified Acorn as
a man and a poet."
[11066]
Bibliography
Image:Whiskey Jack Milton Acorn.jpg
- In Love and Anger (1956)
- Against a League of Liars (1960)
- The Brain's the Target (1960)
- Jawbreakers (1963)
- I've Tasted My Blood (1969)
- I Shout Love and On Shaving Off His Beard (1971)
- More Poems for People (1972)
- The Island Means Minago (1975)
- The Road to Charlottetown (with Cedric Smith,
1977)
- Jackpine Sonnets (1977)
- Captain Neal MacDougal & the Naked Goddess
(1982)
- Dig Up My Heart (1982)
- Whiskey Jack HMS Press (Toronto)(1986) ISBN
0-919957-21-8
- A Stand of Jackpine (with James
Deahl, 1987)
- The Uncollected Acorn (1987)
- I Shout Love and Other Poems (1987)
- Hundred Proof Earth (1988)
- To Hear the Faint Bells (1996)
Discography
Literary Awards
- 1970 Canadian Poets' Award, more commonly known as the People's
Poet Award and Medal
- 1976 Governor General's Award
- 1977 Honorary Doctorate of Law Degree (from the University of Prince Edward
Island)
- 1986 Life member Canadian Poetry Association
References
- Fraser Robinson and Josef Szende, " Spadina iTour." Heritage Toronto, 2009
- Coupey, Pierre. "Straight Beginnings: The Rise & Fall of
the Underground Press", The Grape weekly newspaper #8,
pages 12 and 13, March 8, 1972, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Downey, Donn. "Award-winning poet honored by peers",
Globe
& Mail. August 22, 1986.
External links
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