Soundin' Canaan: Black Canadian Poetry, Music, and Citizenship

Part exploration of a key group of Black Canadian poets, part literary, cultural, and musical history, Soundin' Canaan demonstrates how music in Black Canadian poetry is not solely aesthetic, but a form of social, ethical, and political expression.

Using a DJ Methodology, the author mixes in close readings of poetry, music, cultural and literary history, as well as various interviews with the poets. The book includes an accompanying soundtrack to further enhance the reading experience. Listening to the poets in this book-that is in listening closely to the poems, sounds, and musical samples they bring into the mix-constitutes "sonic citizenship." This co-performative act of reading, listening, and sounding serves as a reminder of how citizens inhabit and negotiate life in Canada beyond the formal legal framework of the nation-state.