Black Matters

Halifax's Poet Laureate Afua Cooper and photographer Wilfried Raussert collaborate in this book of poems and photographs focused on everyday Black experiences. The result is a jambalaya — a dialogue between image and text. Cooper translates Raussert's photos into poetry, painting a profound image of what disembodied historical facts might look like when they are embodied in contemporary characters. This visual and textual conversation honours the multiple layers of Blackness in the African diaspora around North America and Europe. The result is a work that amplifies black beauty and offers audible resistance. (From Roseway Publishing)

Cooper is the poet laureate of Halifax. She's also a historian and teacher. She is the author of five books of poetry and two novels, including The Hanging of Angelique.

Raussert is a Canadian photographer, artist and academic who currently teaches in Germany. He has authored or edited more than 20 scholarly books.

• Afua Cooper talks about what it's like to be Black in Canada today
• 37 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2020
• The best Canadian poetry of 2020
• 25 books by Black Canadian authors to read in 2021

Interviews with Afua Cooper

Dr. Afua Cooper

At The Table

9 years ago

28:37

Dr. Afua Cooper is a scholar, author, and a dub poet. 28:37

The Doc Project7:16Up Close: Afua Cooper on old men talking politics outside the corner store, and how they changed her forever

As a young girl in Kingston, Jamaica, Afua Cooper would sit and listen to the men at her uncle's roadside store. They would play dominoes, drink soda and talk politics. It was here that Afua realized the injustices awaiting black people in this world. 7:16

Ideas0:50Historian Afua Cooper talks about what it's like to be black in Canada today and always under surveillance.

Afua Cooper is James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie University. 0:50

The Current20:09Facing up to racist history in our statues and street names

Anti-racism protesters threw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour at the weekend, and highlighted who cities choose to celebrate in our monuments and street names. Matt Galloway talks to Professor David Olusoga and Professor Afua Cooper about the history all around us and whether it’s time for a rethink. 20:09

Canadian poets speak with CBC News Network's Heather Hiscox about the protests that have swept the continent this year, and share some of their work on Canada Day. Featuring poet, author, playwright and literary critic, George Elliott Clarke, and poet, author, historian and professor at Dalhousie University, Afua Cooper.

12 months ago

14:31

Canadian poets speak with CBC News Network's Heather Hiscox about the protests that have swept the continent this year, and share some of their work on Canada Day. Featuring poet, author, playwright and literary critic, George Elliott Clarke, and poet, author, historian and professor at Dalhousie University, Afua Cooper. 14:31