These Are My Elders

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and an honorary chief of the Lennox Island
Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island.

In These Are My Elders, Chad Norman pays tribute to 30 Canadian poets
whose work has influenced, or been important to, his own. The 30 poems
basically take the form of pastiches of the chosen elders’ own styles,
though his success in catching the poetic idioms of his predecessors is
somewhat uneven. However, the concept on which Norman has based his work
is important—namely, acknowledge where acknowledgment is due. An
important and quite delightful part of the book is the collection of
sketches of many of the poets by artist Heather Spears; they are done
with panache and great respect, entirely in keeping with Chad Norman’s
own aims.