Jason Camlot was chatting with his new boss in the English department of what was then Montreal害羞草研究所檚 Sir George Williams University in 1999, when he spotted a dusty cardboard box of 80 reel-to-reel tapes in a corner of the department head害羞草研究所檚 office.

He asked about it. Oh, he was told, it害羞草研究所檚 just a bunch of old poetry readings from the 害羞草研究所�60s and 害羞草研究所�70s that nobody害羞草研究所檚 ever heard.

He never forgot that dusty box. About seven years ago, he tracked it down, found an old reel-to-reel machine, and started to listen.

害羞草研究所淚t was this incredible reading series,害羞草研究所� said Camlot. 害羞草研究所淎ll the biggest names in North American poetry were there, all recorded in beautiful sound.害羞草研究所�

As it turned out, a lot of other universities had similar dusty boxes. And now, Camlot害羞草研究所檚 discovery has grown into SpokenWeb, a digitized bonanza of thousands of hours of readings and off-the-cuff remarks from Canada害羞草研究所檚 greatest writers during the time when the nation害羞草研究所檚 literature was being invented.

They害羞草研究所檙e all there: Margaret Atwood, W.O. Mitchell, Mavis Gallant, Rudy Wiebe, Michael Ondaatje, Al Purdy, Irving Layton 害羞草研究所� a national pride of literary lions, roaring once again.

The boxes from Sir George Williams 害羞草研究所� now Concordia University 害羞草研究所� feature 60 different poets, including international luminaries Alan Ginsberg and Jose Luis Borges.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 an incredible privilege to be the custodians of this vast trove of literary culture,害羞草研究所� said Michael O害羞草研究所橠riscoll, an English and film studies professor at the University of Alberta, who害羞草研究所檚 also working with SpokenWeb.

The project has grown to include 14 collections, 13 institutions, seven partner institutions, five community partners and more than 50 researchers. It has logged about 7,000 hours of performance.

害羞草研究所淓very collection has its own story,害羞草研究所� said O害羞草研究所橠riscoll.

One organizer of a Montreal poetry series had a box of old Mini Discs sitting next to his microwave. A professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan got boxes of recordings from a local poet who showed up with them in the trunk of her car. The media library at the University of Alberta turned out to have 3,000 recordings in boxes that had never even been opened.

Each recording has been meticulously annotated by the name of the writer, location, date and works read. The remarks are transcribed. It takes about three hours to log one hour of tape.

The recordings offer much more than readings. The writers introduce their works, answer questions, talk about themselves and muse about what it is they害羞草研究所檙e trying to achieve.

害羞草研究所淭hey害羞草研究所檙e extremely interesting and informative about, not just the poems, but about what they imagined it meant to be a poet in the world,害羞草研究所� said Camlot. 害羞草研究所淭hey are performing that role.害羞草研究所�

Many of the readings buzz with energy.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 very glad to see so large a turnout this evening,害羞草研究所� Irving Layton tells an audience in 1967. 害羞草研究所淚 am very heartened by it, very moved.害羞草研究所�

Margaret Atwood invites people in a standing-room-only crowd from 1974 to come to the front and sit on the floor, then cuts her reading short because the hall is so full it gets unbearably hot.

害羞草研究所淗ow are you doing?害羞草研究所� she asks her listeners. 害羞草研究所淚s it hot and steamy? Has anybody died yet?害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e at a peak moment in public poetry culture,害羞草研究所� said O害羞草研究所橠riscoll. 害羞草研究所淭he rooms are clearly packed.害羞草研究所�

After six years of work, SpokenWeb is in its final year. When it害羞草研究所檚 done in early 2024, students can study writers害羞草研究所� remarks, scholars can track changes in the performance of a particular piece and literature lovers can savour their favourite works in the voices of those who penned them 害羞草研究所� all from a single, searchable online portal.

Something happens when a poem moves from eye to ear, said Camlot.

害羞草研究所淎 lot of what we害羞草研究所檙e hearing is a poet doing their best to communicate some of their intentions 害羞草研究所� but discovering some surprises, even to themselves, from the words they害羞草研究所檝e put on the page,害羞草研究所� he said.

害羞草研究所淓very time we listen to these, we害羞草研究所檙e learning new things. It害羞草研究所檚 almost too early to assess their value.害羞草研究所�

SpokenWeb is not only a literary resource but an invaluable repository of cultural history. Most of the writers it documents were in the first generation of Canadian writers to achieve any kind of a national and international audience.

SpokenWeb is the sound of CanLit being born.

害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e in the early days of showing the vast potential of these things for the way we understand ourselves, our understanding of how Canada was wanting to imagine its best self,害羞草研究所� Camlot said.

害羞草研究所淲hat we害羞草研究所檙e hearing in the poets are attempts to articulate what Canada may be. That害羞草研究所檚 something we still should be thinking about very deeply.害羞草研究所�

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press