Professor Emeritus John P. Portelli shortlisted for Canadian book award for best poetry collection

A collection of poetry published by John P. Portelli, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Social Justice Education, Here Was (Burlington, ON: Word & Deed Publs. And Malta: Horizons, 2023), has been short-listed for a Canadian Book Club Award (CBCA), in the poetry category.

Considered Canada’s largest reader’s choice award, the Canadian Book Club Award program announced its list of finalists this fall, with Portelli’s collection selected among hundreds of submissions – a mix of traditional and self-published works. The CBCA award nominations and submissions are reader-driven, with awards given in 13 categories.

Here Was is a collection of 77 poems, reflecting Portelli’s nomadic adventures and travels on three different continents from Ramallah to Bologna, from Toronto to Rabat, and from Lisbon to Istanbul. The collection mixes existential elements with the call for social justice, and the recollections of gone by days.

Professor Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez, chair of the Department of Social Justice Education, says that Professor Portelli is a scholar who bridges between his intellectual and creative endeavors “with the ease of a master craftsman.”

“A deep thinker about what it means to be a critical educator who cares deeply yet also challenges his students, Portelli also captures the emotional and interior dimensions of his commitments as a public figure and a scholar,” he added. “The kinds of creative work that Professor Portelli produces is essential for communicating ideas at a level that prose – and academic writing in particular – cannot reach, to speak through and to the emotions, and to compel us to feel our way into a political life that is meaningful, epathic, and generous.”

Portelli, the author of eight books of poetry, was “totally surprised” to hear he was shortlisted in such a competitive award program, but grateful for the honour.

“Literature has been a part of me because academia eats you up – although I have come to the conclusion that writing literature is more satisfying than writing for academia,” says Portelli, whose academic focus includes student engagement, democratic theory, and leadership, equity and diversity. “I believe literature has more value in terms of the possibility of changing the world for the better.”

Here Was has been translated to multiple languages, including Romanian, Turkish, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish and Italian.

Professor Gaztambide-Fernandez is in praise of Portelli’s achievement. “For those of us committed to education as the practice of freedom, to borrow from one of Portelli’s inspirations, Paulo Freire, such work invites us into creativity and to dialog through poetry,” he says.

“We are all deeply inspired but his work and proud to have him as a colleague.”

Portelli’s most recent publication is a co-authored collection of poems with Ahmed Miqdad entitled The Shadow: Poems for the Children of Gaza (Malta: Horizons, 2024). It is being translated into Hindi and Arabic. Several of Portelli’s literary works, including a novel, short stories and poetry, have been shortlisted for other awards in the past.

Winners will be announced in January 2025.