Adrienne Clarkson remembers Leonard Cohen:
‘He is the greatest poet we have ever produced’

Adrienne Clarkson: Championing Leonard Cohen at the Ageless International Film Festival  

‍An artist looking for a champion could hardly do better than Adrienne Clarkson. The journalist and former Governor-General of Canada has long been an advocate for the late Leonard Cohen, her friend and occasional interviewee. Cohen is the subject of Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, a documentary by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, which was screened on October 30 at Toronto’s Innis Town Hall Theatre as part of this year’s Ageless International Film Festival. Clarkson, who appears in the film, joined a panel discussion following the screening, moderated by Andrew Burashko, leader of the Art of Time Ensemble. The ensemble recently performed a series of concerts celebrating Cohen’s songs, where Clarkson also spoke. Her connection to Cohen runs deep—she directed the 1989 documentary *Leonard* and delivered a keynote address at a 2018 symposium accompanying a Cohen exhibition at Montreal’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

In Clarkson’s words, Cohen is “the greatest poet we have ever produced.” Since his passing in 2016, numerous books, films, and two posthumous albums have continued to celebrate his legacy.  “He’s eternal, as we’ve come to realize,” Clarkson said, reflecting on Cohen’s enduring influence. On Leonard Cohen’s Legacy**  In a televised 1966 interview with CBC’s *Take 30*, Cohen remarked that he wasn’t interested in posterity, calling it “a paltry form of eternity.”
Was he honest, or was it a persona?  “I think Leonard was one of the most real and defined people I have ever met,” Clarkson shared.  When asked what set him apart, she remarked:  “Poets are prophets, always ahead of their time.
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Leonard had a mission—he wanted to sing what he believed was true. He brought us back to poetry through music, with a sense of rhythm that made his words unforgettable.”  

A Poet-Bard for the Ages Clarkson’s 2018 symposium address, titled Leonard Cohen As I Knew Him, highlighted his unique ability to create songs that resonated universally. “He expressed for others what they couldn’t express themselves,” she said. “That’s what poets do.”  

On whether Cohen was happy, Clarkson reflected, “He wasn’t the kind of Sixties person who thought about happiness in categories. He wanted to be remembered as a poet whose words people carried with them, words that felt undeniably true when heard.”  


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This interview has been condensed and edited,

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Courtesy : The Globe and Mail
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