''Whylah Falls'' is a long narrative poem (or "

verse novel A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voi ...

") by

George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...

, published in book form in 1990. As with much of Clarke's work, the poem is inspired by the history and culture of the Black Canadian community in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, which he refers to as the "Africadian" community (a combination of the words "African" and " Acadian"). Clarke himself describes the work as a " blues spiritual about love and the pain of love". ''Whylah Falls'' tells the story of several pairs of black lovers in southwestern Nova Scotia in the 1930s, through dramatic monologues,

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

s, sonnets, newspaper snippets, recipes,

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

and

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defi ...

. It has also been released in

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

form, with an original

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

score performed by Joe Sealy, Jamie Gattie and Steve Macdonald to accompany the reading. Clarke also adapted the poem into a stage play, which premiered in 1999. ''Whylah Falls'' was a winner of the

Archibald Lampman Award The Archibald Lampman Award is an annual Canadian literary award, created by Blaine Marchand, and presented by the literary magazine '' Arc'', for the year's best work of poetry by a writer living in the National Capital Region. History The ...

for poetry. The book was also chosen for the CBC's inaugural ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'' competition in 2002, where it was championed by author

Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', '' Midnight Robber'', '' The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as th ...

References

1990 books 1990 poems 1999 plays Books by George Elliott Clarke Canadian poems Verse novels Novels set in Nova Scotia {{1990s-poem-stub