Afua Cooper (born 8 November 1957) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

n-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. In 2018 she is an associate professor of sociology at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

. She is an author and

dub poet Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s,

. As of 2018 she has published five volumes of poetry."Best-selling author Afua Cooper appointed Halifax's new poet laureate"
''National Post'', 23 April 2018

Early life and education

Born in

Westmoreland, Jamaica Westmoreland is the westernmost Parishes of Jamaica, parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island. It is situated south of Hanover, Jamaica, Hanover, southwest of Saint James, Jamaica, Saint James, and northwest of Saint Elizabeth ...

, Cooper grew up in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...

, and migrated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in 1980. She studied history at the University of Toronto, where she earned a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

African-Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

with specialties in slavery and abolition. Her dissertation, "Doing Battle in Freedom's Cause", is a biographical study of

Henry Bibb Henry Walton Bibb (May 10, 1815 in Shelby County, Kentucky – August 1,1854 in Windsor) was an American author and abolitionist who was born a slave. Bibb told his life story in his narrative ''The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb: An American ...

, a 19th-century

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

who lived and worked in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Career

Cooper has published four books of poetry, including ''Memories Have Tongue'' (1994), one of the finalists in the 1992 Casa de las Americas literary award. She is the co-author of ''We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian Women's History'' (1994). She has also released two albums of her poetry. Her book ''The Hanging of Angelique'' (2006) tells the story of an enslaved African Marie-Joseph Angelique who was executed in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

at a time when

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

was under

French colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architectur ...

rule. It was shortlisted for the 2006 Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction. In 2011 Cooper was named to the James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie University. She also has expertise in

women's history Women's history is the study of the role that women have played in history and the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achievement over a period of ...

and

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

studies. In 2016 Cooper led the creation of a minor program in black and African diaspora studies at Dalhousie. In 2018 she was named

poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

for the city of Halifax, holding the role until 2020. Cooper has also written two historical novels for children, both based on real historical figures. My name is

: a story of slavery and freedom; and My name is

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates, Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: Ameri ...

: a story of slavery and freedom, both published in 2009 by

Kids Can Press Kids Can Press is a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with a catalog near 1000 picture books and 500 e-books, non-fiction and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults. The Kids Can Press list includes characters such as Franklin ...

Awards

''We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian Women's History'' was awarded the

Ontario Historical Society The Ontario Historical Society is a non-profit organization centred on the preservation of Ontario’s history. It is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors, and its members include individuals as well as historical institutions from across ...

's Joseph Brant Award for History in 1994. She is a winner of the Harry Jerome Award for professional excellence In 2015, Cooper received the Novia Scotia Human Rights Commission’s Dr. Burnley Allan “Rocky” Jones Award. In 2020, Cooper was awarded the

Portia White Prize The Portia White Prize is the largest prize of its type awarded by the Province of Nova Scotia and is named for Portia White, a Nova Scotian artist who rose through adversity to achieve international acclaim as a classical singer on the stages of Eu ...

at the Creative Nova Scotia Awards Gala.

Books

* ''Breaking Chains'' (Weelahs, 1983) * ''Red Caterpillar On College Street'' (Sister Vision Press, 1989) * ''Memories Have Tongue: Poetry'' (Sister Vision Press, 1992) * ''We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian Women's History,'' with Peggy Bristow, Dionne Brand, Linda Carty, Sylvia Hamilton and Adrienne Shadd (University of Toronto Press, 1994) * ''Utterances and Incantations: Women, Poetry, and Dub'' (Sister Vision Press, 1999) * ''The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!'', with Adrienne Shadd and Carolyn Smardz Frost (Natural Heritage Books, 2002) * ''The Hanging of Angélique, The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal'' (HarperCollins, 2006) * ''Copper Woman and Other Poems''(Natural Heritage Books, 2006) * ''My Name is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom'' istorical fiction(Kids Can Press, 2009) * ''My Name is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom'' istorical fiction(Kids Can Press, 2009) * "To Learn… Even a Little, The Letters of Solomon Washington," in ''Hoping for Home, The Stories of Arrival'' (Scholastic Canada, 2011), 171–91.

Discography

* ''WomanTalk: Women Dub Poets'' (Heartbeat Records, 1984) * ''Poetry Is Not a Luxury'' (Maya Music Group, 1985) * ''Your Silence Will Not Protect You'' (Maya Music, 1986) * ''Sunshine'' (Maya Music Group, 1989) * ''Worlds of Fire'' (Soundmind Productions, 2002) * ''Love and Revolution'' (Soundmind Productions, 2014)

References

External links

Afua Cooper Papers at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
- various personal and professional material, including poem and academic manuscripts
Glossary of Canadian PoetsThe Canadian Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Afua 1957 births Living people 20th-century Canadian poets Black Canadian women People from Westmoreland Parish Jamaican emigrants to Canada Canadian women poets Black Canadian musicians Black Canadian writers Canadian reggae musicians Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Jamaican dub poets University of Toronto faculty 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women historians African-Canadian feminism Poets Laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers