Michael Estok

Michael Estok
Born Michael John Estok
1939
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Died July 24, 1989
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Occupation poet
Language English
Nationality Canadian
Period 1980s
Notable works A Plague Year Journal

Michael John Estok (1939–1989) was a Canadian poet.[1] He was best known for his posthumous collection A Plague Year Journal, considered one of the crucial works of HIV/AIDS literature in Canada.[2]

Originally from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Estok studied at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto.[3] He taught English literature at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Waterloo and Dalhousie University before joining the Université Sainte-Anne in Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia, where he taught for 18 years.[3] He published his first poetry collection, Paradise Garage, in 1987.[4] He completed A Plague Year Journal shortly before his death of AIDS in 1989,[3] and the work was published after his death by Arsenal Pulp Press.[1] His poetry also appeared in Canadian Forum and The Fiddlehead.[3]

His poems "Ordination", "As the Crisis Deepened" and "Hydrangeas" appeared in John Barton and Billeh Nickerson's 2007 anthology Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets.[2] His poem "Let It Go" was recited in 2012 at The AIDS Quilt Songbook, a benefit concert in New York City staged in conjunction with the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Queer CanLit: Canadian, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Literature in English. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7727-6065-4.
  2. 1 2 John Barton and Billeh Nickerson, eds. Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. ISBN 1551522179.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Deaths: Estok, Dr. Michael John". The Globe and Mail, July 25, 1989.
  4. ↑ Biographical notes in Paradise Garage. Goose Lane Editions, 1987. ISBN 978-0864920553.
  5. ↑ "“The AIDS Quilt Songbook” Celebrates a 20th Anniversary on World AIDS Day". New York Q News, December 2012.


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