In a Springtime Instant

by Milton Acorn

Milton Acorn remains one of the most important Canadian poets of the 20th century. This new volume of his Selected Poems solidifies Acorn’s reputation and confirms his place in Canadian literature. As James Deahl, the Editor asserts in his Introduction, “Milton Acorn’s poetry stands among the most challenging work produced during the last half of the twentieth century. His ability to see connections between a strange assortment of things is striking. And the reader is called up to be as agile as the poet in jumping from one idea to another.” Acorn remains a conundrum for many. He was both a communist and a traditional conservative, not at different times, but at the same time. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Prince Edward Island at the same time as the Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, former Prime Minister of Canada, received his. Acorn read deeply and widely, and in his personal library the poet had the complete works of George Grant and many volumes of the works of Stalin. Acorn would often comment “Life is contradiction.” Acorn knew and absorbed much from his fellow poets. “From Scott and Livesay he learned the importance of the poet being a political activist… From MacEwen, his wife at the time, Acorn took all things Egyptian… .If Acorn learned plain speech from the likes of Livesay, he learned more deeply layered poetry from MacEwen… .” From Alden Nowlan, a fellow Maritimer, he learned how to incorporate colloquial expressions and usage in poems. He absorbed so much from many other fellow poets, Al Purdy, Irving Layton, Kenneth Leslie, Joe Wallace, Jamie Reid, Red Lane and more. In A Springtime The Selected Poems of Milton Acorn the reader will discover and appreciate all the diversity, passion, variety, contradictions that swept through Acorn’s life and his poetry. This volume has been masterly arranged and edited by James Deahl, Acorn’s long-time friend, an accomplished poet, essayist and publisher in his own right.

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed The People's Poet by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Acorn was a World War II veteran. On a trans-Atlantic crossing, he suffered a wound from depth charges. The wound was severe enough for him to receive a disability pension from Veterans Affairs for most of his life. He returned to Prince Edward Island, and then moved to Montreal in 1956. He also spent several years living at the Hotel Waverly in Toronto.

In Montreal, he published some of his early poems in the political magazine, New Frontiers. He also self-published a mimeographed chapbook, In Love and Anger, his first collection of poems.

He was for a short time married to poet Gwendolyn MacEwen.

In 1967, Acorn helped found the then-"underground" newspaper The Georgia Straight in Vancouver, BC.

Acorn was awarded the Canadian Poets Award in 1970 and the Governor General's Award in 1976 for his collection of poems, The Island Means Minago.

In July 1986, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. Acorn died in his home town of Charlottetown on August 20, 1986, due to complications associated with his heart condition and diabetes. According to fellow poet and close friend Warren Kinthompson, he had "lost his will to live after the death of a younger sister."