The City of Vancouver would like to hear from poets interested in becoming the City’s third Poet Laureate. The call for nominations and submissions is open until August 26.

“Since 2007, the City of Vancouver has selected a gifted writer to represent the cultural richness of our community and we have been fortunate to draw upon the talents of Professor Emeritus George McWhirter and the award-winning Brad Cran as our Poets Laureate. Each brought their unique voice to the creative expression of Vancouver’s identity and their work is an important part of our literary tradition,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson.

“The successor to these two fine poets will continue the tradition of bringing poetry into the public realm and we look forward to announcing the City’s third Poet Laureate in October,” he added.

Nominations and submissions are invited from published poets who currently reside in the City of Vancouver and who have either an established body of work or have been recognized for notable contributions early in their career.

Submissions will be evaluated by a three-person assessment committee comprised of representatives from the literary/poetry community nominated by the Vancouver International Writers Festival.

“Becoming the Poet Laureate of Vancouver is a significant honour but more importantly it is a unique opportunity to promote poetry to a wide and appreciative audience,” said Poet Laureate Brad Cran. “The Laureateship allows a poet to strengthen the public’s relationship to literature and improve the cultural life of our city. I highly encourage local poets to submit applications to be Vancouver’s next Poet Laureate.”

The Poet Laureate will be selected for a three-year period commencing in October 2011. The announcement will be made on October 19 at a poetry festival created by current Laureate Brad Cran as his legacy project.

The $15,000 program stipend will be paid in annual $5000 amounts. The funding is made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Yosef Wosk and held by the Vancouver Foundation.

“We are most grateful to Dr. Wosk for his support and vision for the literary arts in our city and particularly for his involvement in creation of the Poet Laureateship,” said Chief Librarian Sandra Singh. “Dr. Wosk has long supported Vancouver Public Library and we look forward to our continued work together as the Library evolves.”

Click to download a copy of the Poet Laureate 2011 - Call for Expressions of Interest or visit www.vpl.ca.

For more information, please contact:
Jean Kavanagh
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Vancouver Public Library
604-331-3895
cell 604-612-4059
[email protected]