Ron DartMilton Acorn
Toronto’s Gadfly
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The Acorn picture I want to convey is of a maverick and
outsider, a man who speaks out at the wrong time, asks
embarrassing questions of human society, and will not be
satisfied by evasions. Al Purdy
I’ve Tasted My Blood (Introduction)
Milton Acorn (1923-1986) remains, to this day, one of the finest Canadian political poets--his poetry charms, probes, challenges, evokes and enrages. There is no neutrality in Acorn.
Acorn was born in Prince Edward Island, spent an important period of time in the late 1950s with the emerging Montreal literati, moved to Toronto from 1960-1963, travelled to Vancouver from 1963-1968 (to confront Canadian poets who were being colonized by Beat and Black Mountain poets), then returned to Toronto where he won the controversial People’s Poet Award in 1970. Acorn lived in Toronto most of the 1970s. He won the much coveted Governor General’s Award in 1975 for his poetic missive, The Island Means Minago.
Acorn was very much a creative gadfly to both the literary and political establishment when he arrived in Toronto in the summer of 1960. The Bohemian Embassy opened on St. Nicholas Street in Toronto in June 1960, and many was the poet, artist and musician who called this place home. Acorn became the fiery frontispiece at the Embassy, and his poetry readings enthralled and held many. He challenged the literary old guard and garnered the attention of a new generation of Canadian poets. Sylvia Tyson, Robert Colombo, Joe Rosenblatt, Margaret Atwood and Gwendolyn MacEwen were but a few of the worthies that heard Acorn at his enraging, engaging and compelling best. Three of Acorn’s earliest books, The Brain’s the Target (1960), Against a League of Liars (1960) and Jawbreakers (1963) were published in the formative Toronto years.
Acorn married Gwendolyn MacEwen in February 1962, and they lived on Ward Island (a quick boat trip from Toronto) the short time they remained together. Acorn played a significant role in initiating the “Free Speech Movement” at Allan Gardens in the summer of 1962. Poetry was being read in public, and the authorities were not impressed. The content and style of the poetry was questionable. Police gathered regularly to warn Acorn and tribe to cease their activities, but the more the pressure, the greater the resistance. Poets and police clashed and Acorn was at the centre of the controversy. The greater the heat, the more the poetic gadfly was active and busy. Counter culture and established authority found their lightning rod in Acorn. Toronto was forced into the challenges and drama of the 1960s with Acorn the lead actor on the stage.
Acorn left Toronto for Vancouver in November 1963. He was convinced that Canadians were being co-opted by American literary and political traditions, and such subtle forms of colonization had to be challenged in a head-on clash. Acorn spent five years in Vancouver (1963-1968), and it was impossible to miss him on the literary stage. But, as his reputation waxed, and more of his poetic missives were published, he turned again to Toronto. The literary culture wars were heating up in the 1960s, and Acorn was standing right in the centre of the fire. There was no doubt that he had clearly established himself as one of the most important poets and political activists of the 1960s. Acorn could not and would not separate poetry from politics. He stood within a tradition that was committed to the notion of the poet as a national prophet that, clarion-like, called the nation to higher ethical standards, stood by the side of the people, and firmly opposed Canadian integration to the American empire and “New Romans” to the south.
The white heat and poetic vision of Acorn reached a crescendo in 1970. Most thought that Acorn would win the Governor General’s Award for his collection of poems, I’ve Tasted My Blood (1969), edited by Al Purdy. But, much to the dismay of many, George Bowering and Gwendolyn MacEwen were offered the wreath. Bowering had been a student of Warren Tallman (the well known American anarchist from UBC), and Tallman was on the selection committee that voted for Bowering and turned the back on Acorn. Acorn was in Toronto at the time, but it was Robin Mathews (the well known nationalist) who blew the whistle on the decision. Many artists and poets in Toronto decided, in reaction to the problematic prize being given to Bowering, to create the People’s Poet Award. So, the Great Canadian Poetry War was set in motion. Grossman’s Tavern in Toronto became the sacred site from which Acorn was offered the People’s Poet Award in 1970 (May 16). Eli Mandel placed the medal round Acorn’s thick neck, and none of the committee (although invited) that voted for Bowering attended the much-acclaimed People’s Poet Award at Grossman’s.
Acorn lived in Toronto at the Waverley Hotel throughout most of the 1970s. He was a poet of the people, and he committed himself to be on the streets of Toronto with the people. His commitment to poetry of the people was further clarified and reinforced when More Poems for the People (1972) was published. This missive stood on the able shoulders of Dorothy Livesay’s Poems for the People.
Acorn was offered an honorary doctorate from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1977, but for many years of his turbulent life he had lived in Toronto, and had been very much a gadfly to the city. When Acorn returned to Charlottetown in 1982, his health and energy were waning. His final few years were difficult and painful, but his memory remains strong in Toronto for those who keenly remember his firm voice, his artistic vision, his unique stage presence and his better poetry.
Biographies
Gudgeon, Chris. Out Of This World: The Natural History of Milton Acorn (1996)
Lemm, Richard. Milton Acorn: In Love and Anger (1999)
Milton Acorn (1923-1986) remains, to this day, one of the finest Canadian political poets--his poetry charms, probes, challenges, evokes and enrages. There is no neutrality in Acorn.
Acorn was born in Prince Edward Island, spent an important period of time in the late 1950s with the emerging Montreal literati, moved to Toronto from 1960-1963, travelled to Vancouver from 1963-1968 (to confront Canadian poets who were being colonized by Beat and Black Mountain poets), then returned to Toronto where he won the controversial People’s Poet Award in 1970. Acorn lived in Toronto most of the 1970s. He won the much coveted Governor General’s Award in 1975 for his poetic missive, The Island Means Minago.
Acorn was very much a creative gadfly to both the literary and political establishment when he arrived in Toronto in the summer of 1960. The Bohemian Embassy opened on St. Nicholas Street in Toronto in June 1960, and many was the poet, artist and musician who called this place home. Acorn became the fiery frontispiece at the Embassy, and his poetry readings enthralled and held many. He challenged the literary old guard and garnered the attention of a new generation of Canadian poets. Sylvia Tyson, Robert Colombo, Joe Rosenblatt, Margaret Atwood and Gwendolyn MacEwen were but a few of the worthies that heard Acorn at his enraging, engaging and compelling best. Three of Acorn’s earliest books, The Brain’s the Target (1960), Against a League of Liars (1960) and Jawbreakers (1963) were published in the formative Toronto years.
Acorn married Gwendolyn MacEwen in February 1962, and they lived on Ward Island (a quick boat trip from Toronto) the short time they remained together. Acorn played a significant role in initiating the “Free Speech Movement” at Allan Gardens in the summer of 1962. Poetry was being read in public, and the authorities were not impressed. The content and style of the poetry was questionable. Police gathered regularly to warn Acorn and tribe to cease their activities, but the more the pressure, the greater the resistance. Poets and police clashed and Acorn was at the centre of the controversy. The greater the heat, the more the poetic gadfly was active and busy. Counter culture and established authority found their lightning rod in Acorn. Toronto was forced into the challenges and drama of the 1960s with Acorn the lead actor on the stage.
Acorn left Toronto for Vancouver in November 1963. He was convinced that Canadians were being co-opted by American literary and political traditions, and such subtle forms of colonization had to be challenged in a head-on clash. Acorn spent five years in Vancouver (1963-1968), and it was impossible to miss him on the literary stage. But, as his reputation waxed, and more of his poetic missives were published, he turned again to Toronto. The literary culture wars were heating up in the 1960s, and Acorn was standing right in the centre of the fire. There was no doubt that he had clearly established himself as one of the most important poets and political activists of the 1960s. Acorn could not and would not separate poetry from politics. He stood within a tradition that was committed to the notion of the poet as a national prophet that, clarion-like, called the nation to higher ethical standards, stood by the side of the people, and firmly opposed Canadian integration to the American empire and “New Romans” to the south.
The white heat and poetic vision of Acorn reached a crescendo in 1970. Most thought that Acorn would win the Governor General’s Award for his collection of poems, I’ve Tasted My Blood (1969), edited by Al Purdy. But, much to the dismay of many, George Bowering and Gwendolyn MacEwen were offered the wreath. Bowering had been a student of Warren Tallman (the well known American anarchist from UBC), and Tallman was on the selection committee that voted for Bowering and turned the back on Acorn. Acorn was in Toronto at the time, but it was Robin Mathews (the well known nationalist) who blew the whistle on the decision. Many artists and poets in Toronto decided, in reaction to the problematic prize being given to Bowering, to create the People’s Poet Award. So, the Great Canadian Poetry War was set in motion. Grossman’s Tavern in Toronto became the sacred site from which Acorn was offered the People’s Poet Award in 1970 (May 16). Eli Mandel placed the medal round Acorn’s thick neck, and none of the committee (although invited) that voted for Bowering attended the much-acclaimed People’s Poet Award at Grossman’s.
Acorn lived in Toronto at the Waverley Hotel throughout most of the 1970s. He was a poet of the people, and he committed himself to be on the streets of Toronto with the people. His commitment to poetry of the people was further clarified and reinforced when More Poems for the People (1972) was published. This missive stood on the able shoulders of Dorothy Livesay’s Poems for the People.
Acorn was offered an honorary doctorate from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1977, but for many years of his turbulent life he had lived in Toronto, and had been very much a gadfly to the city. When Acorn returned to Charlottetown in 1982, his health and energy were waning. His final few years were difficult and painful, but his memory remains strong in Toronto for those who keenly remember his firm voice, his artistic vision, his unique stage presence and his better poetry.
Biographies
Gudgeon, Chris. Out Of This World: The Natural History of Milton Acorn (1996)
Lemm, Richard. Milton Acorn: In Love and Anger (1999)
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