Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1949-2013 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
22.5 m of textual records, printed materials, sound recordings and graphic material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Austin Ardinel Chesterfield ("Tom") Clarke, author, was born in Barbados on 26 July 1934. His parents were Kenneth Trotman and Gladys Irene Clarke. His mother later married F.H. Luke. Clarke immigrated to Canada in 1956 and attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto for a short time. His interest in writing began early in life, and in the 1960s his short stories began to be published in Canadian and other periodicals. Clarke's stories and novels primarily centre around the plight of the immigrant West Indian in Canada, although his first two novels, The Survivors of the Crossing and Amongst Thistles and Thorns, take place in Barbados.
He was a member of The Immigration and Refugee Board from 1983 to 1993; he also held a position with The Ontario Film Review Board from 1984 to 1987. Clarke was the inaugural recipient of The Rogers Communications Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for his semi-autobiographical novel The Origin of Waves, published in 1997. His 2002 novel, The Polished Hoe, won the Trillium, Giller and Commonwealth prizes. His novel More was published in 2008. The author currently resides in Toronto, Ont. For further biographical material, please consult McMaster University's Library Research News (6, no. 1, Spring 1982) and Stella Algoo-Baksh, Austin C. Clarke: A Biography (Toronto: ECW Press, 1994). Clarke died in Toronto on 26 June 2016.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of: manuscripts, correspondence, personal files, Barbados, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, teaching and audio tapes, material related to Survivors of the Crossing and material on the election campaign of 1977, material relating to The Ontario Film Review Board, unpublished novels, notebook and material received, periodicals, research files, invitations, tape recordings, articles, and other material
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The first accrual was acquired in July 1982; the second accrual in the summer of 1982; the third accrual in December 1983; the fourth accrual in 1985; the fifth accrual (01-1989) in January 1989; the sixth accrual (09-1994) in September 1994; the seventh accrual (35-1999) in 1999; the eight accrual (29-2000) in July 2000; the ninth accrual in October 2013, all from Austin Clarke. The tenth accrual (2016-019) was donated by Paul Craven in April 2016.
Arrangement
The fonds consists of ten accruals. The first accrual (9 m) is arranged into seven series consisting of: manuscripts, correspondence, personal files, Barbados, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, teaching and audio tapes. The second accrual (12 cm) consists of one series primarily related to Survivors of the Crossing and material on the election campaign of 1977. The third accrual (1.44 m) is arranged into three series consisting of: manuscripts, diaries, correspondence and audio tapes. The fourth accrual (1.2 m) is arranged in three series consisting of: manuscripts, other material and correspondence. The fifth accrual (2.29 m), is arranged in six series consisting of: correspondence, material relating to The Ontario Film Review Board, published book manuscripts, unpublished novels, notebook and material received - not by Austin Clarke. The sixth accrual (5.1 m) is arranged in ten series consisting of: correspondence, periodicals, research files, invitations, tape recordings, articles, manuscripts, columns, essays and works by others. The seventh accrual (3.3 m) and is arranged in six series consisting of: correspondence, manuscripts, manuscripts by others, newspaper columns, printed material and other material. The eighth accrual consists of photographs, 46 b&w and ca. 820 colour of Clarke, his family, friends, politicians, and writers. The ninth accrual (2013-038) is arranged into 14 series: series 1 contains manuscripts of published and unpublished works; series 2 contains short stories and poetry; series 3 contains other manuscripts and unidentified writings; series 4 contains articles, speeches, columns, book reviews and other material; series 5 contains conferences, workshops and festivals.
Series 6 Publicity and promotion; series 7 contains personal; series 8 contains business; series 9 contains correspondence; series 10 contains photographs; series 11 contains subject files; series 12 contains printed materials; series 13 contains works not by Clarke; and series 14 contains over-sized and Audio-visual material.
The 10th accrual consists of correspondence with Malcolm and Jean Craven.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Access to the following material is restricted until December 31, 2065:
First accrual, Barbados files (boxes 49-51).
Fourth accrual, Board of Censors reports on films (binder 76a).
Fifth accrual: material relating to the Ontario Film Review Board and Film Review Board (boxes 81-82).
Sixth accrual: Boxhill and Marinak correspondence (box 92).
Seventh accrual: Zoppi correspondence (box 108).
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
