J'Accuse by Emile Zola

J'Accuse by Emile Zola

J'Accuse... is so dynamic, joyous in its language and emotion, and consistently exciting, engrossing.... A page-turner And mysteriously easy to read given the inventiveness, color, and torsion of the poetic language.... A wonderful combination of the sophisticated, the primal, and the available. Great poetry has this sense of generous, human outreach from a very high and deep place. Something that comes down from the mountain yet without condescending.
--A.F. Moritz, Guggenheim Award & Griffin Poetry Prize Laureate & Toronto Poet Laureate (2019-23)

What is it like to be cancelled, to be shouted down by the virulently self-righteous, and to be permitted no hearing, no defence?

In J'Accuse... (Poem Versus Silence), an essay-in-poetry by Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate emeritus, George Elliott Clarke contemplates how terrifyingly easy it was for him to fall victim - in January 2020 - to shrill defamation and scurrilous denunciation, to face anti-social media intimidation - all facilitated by reportage that spurred outrage rather than reflection. The result? Censorship and silencing, blacklisting and gag orders, the specialty of tyrannies, including the newfangled cult of #8220;cancellaires and digilantes.

J'Accuse... is a poignant manifesto that calls upon intellectuals and radicals to never submit to impulses that intentionally, or even unintentionally, forbid debate and questioning.

J'Accuse... ponders what is truly unspeakable: injustice.

J'Accuse... is a cri-de-coeur that unflinchingly reveals the personal cost - borne by all poets who strive to bear witness to Treasure - / despite all opposing Battery.