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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]
Michael Estok | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael John Estok 1939 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Died | July 24, 1989 (aged 49–50) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Occupation | poet |
| Language | English |
| Period | 1980s |
| Notable works | A Plague Year Journal |
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]
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