Teaching poetry to teenagers is often as successful as the poets you select. These three Canadian poets appeal to high school students with their language and content.
Teaching poetry successfully depends on a combination of factors: preparation, student involvement, presentation. The poets you choose to teach contribute crucially to the positive impact of your poetry unit. Many poetry anthologies for high school still only teach British or American poets. By incorporating Canadian poets, both from the past and those writing currently, you can connect students to aspects of history, landscape and social issues grounded in a Canadian perspective.
These three poets are a good start. They are engaging personalities whose poetry fascinates teens with its risk-taking language and subject matter.
Earle Birney: Wild Poet
Earle Birney was born in Calgary in 1904. He had an adventurous youth, working in fruit orchards and as a mountaineering guide, studying journalism and psychology and eventually joining the army. In the 50s, he formed the Creative Writing Department at the University of BC. He spent years traveling all over the world, living in France, Mexico and parts of Asia. He died of a heart attack in 1995.
His poems like “Vancouver Lights” are full of a rollicking, musical energy and beg to be read aloud. He played with many verse forms, including concrete poetry. His long poem “David” appeals to teenagers as it evokes friendship, death and a west coast landscape. He also wrote verse plays and novels.
Gwendolyn MacEwen: Mythical Poet
Gwendolyn MacEwen was born in Toronto in 1941. During her childhood she struggled with her mother's mental illness. Retreating into a world of myth, Gwendolyn taught herself languages, including Greek and Latin, and became fascinated with Ancient Greek culture. She lived a life of travel, doing odd jobs and marrying intriguing men, such as another Canadian poet, Milton Acorn. She won the Governor General's Award twice, once for her Lawrence of Arabia poems. She died in 1987 at a young age.
Her poetry sometimes rhymes in an incantatory style. She also wrote wryly funny prose pieces like “Fragments from a Childhood” and “Magic Cats.” Her language appeals to youth through its plain spoken diction, the way it draws from the myths of pop culture, and its presentation of female relationships and cultural expectations.
Joe Rosenblatt: Surreal Poet
Joe Rosenblatt was born in Toronto in 1933 and now lives in Qualicum Beach, BC. He spent his young adult life working for VIA Rail as a baggage handler before taking on jobs as a writer in residence, a lecturer in Italy and the editor for Jewish Dialog. He won the Governor General's Award for Top Soil in 1976.
His early work was partly influenced by the LSD culture of the 70s. Since relocating to the West Coast, his poems have become inhabited by fish, cats, birds and other non-human entities. Teens are often amused by his wacky use of language, as in the poems “The Muse in Early February” and “Padding through the Pampas Grass,” among many others. His surreal, painterly imagination also appeals. Reading his work aloud is fun for both the tongue and the mind's eye.
