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Book Reviews

Poets and poetry lovers reviewing poetry

Standing on Shimmer: a review of Circle Tour by Eva Tihanyi

May 26, 2023

Reviewed by Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews Circle Tour by Eva Tihanyi (Inanna Publications, 2023) They say an image is worth a thousand words: passion, the heart, a woman’s life journey, her…

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Review: Orion Sweeping by Anne Marie Todkill

May 5, 2023

Reviewed by Pearl Pirie Orion Sweeping by Anne Marie Todkill (Brick Books)8.75 x 5.75 Inches | 88 PagesPublication Date: April 1, 2022Trade Paperback ISBN:9781771315692 Orion Sweeping by Anne Marie Todkill…

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Review: Casa de mi Corazón: A Travel Journal of Poetry and Memoir by Lindsay Soberano-Wilson

March 10, 2023

Reviewed by Rion Levy Casa de mi Corazón: A Travel Journal of Poetry and Memoir by Lindsay Soberano-Wilson In her small but packed Casa de mi Corazón, we watch Lindsay…

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Review: ineffable, The Mystical Poems by Edwin Varney

March 7, 2023

Reviewed by Stephen Morrissey ineffable, The Mystical Poems by Edwin Varney (The Poem Factory, Courtenay, BC, 2022). 14 pages. ISBN: 978-1-895593-57-0 Back in 1977, I reviewed Edwin Varney’s Human Nature (1974), published in…

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When the day is nearly done, a review of Timed Radiance, by Donna Langevin

March 3, 2023

Reviewed by Louise Carson Timed Radiance, by Donna Langevin (Aeolus House, 2022). There are many examples of fine language in this collection of poems that have (mostly) been written as…

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Trying to be the tree: a review of somewhere still in wind the tree is bending by Bob MacKenzie

March 3, 2023

Reviewed by Louise Carson somewhere still in wind the tree is bending by Bob MacKenzie (Silver Bow Publishing, New Westminster, 2018). The tree is on the front cover, a weathered…

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Welcome to my nightmare: A review of Hell-Box by Peter Taylor

March 3, 2023

Reviewed by Louise Carson Hell-Box by Peter Taylor (Frog Hollow Press, 2020). As the first note at the end of this chapbook explains, “A hell-box is a receptacle for damaged…

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Snapshots: Review of The Negation of Chronology: Imagining Geraldine Moodie, by Rebecca Luce-Kapler

March 3, 2023

Reviewed by Louise Carson The Negation of Chronology: Imagining Geraldine Moodie, Rebecca Luce-Kapler (Inanna, 2020).     I knew after I’d read the forward, that I’d be interested in the material…

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Review: Rags of Night in Our Mouths by Margo Wheaton

January 30, 2023

Reviewed by Michael Edwards Rags of Night in Our Mouths by Margo Wheaton (MQUP, 2022) I. Margo Wheaton’s second poetry collection, Rags of Night in Our Mouths, takes the form…

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Nutlike: a review of Arborophobia by Nancy Holmes

January 30, 2023

Reviewed by Dawn MacDonald Arborophobia by Nancy Holmes (University of Alberta Press, 2022) “Pray inwardly,” the 15th-century Christian mystic Julian of Norwich once advised, “even if you do not enjoy…

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Canada's Poets Laureate

Explore our map and list of current & past Poets Laureate across Canada.

If you have a correction or would like to add a Poet Laureate, please fill out this form

Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer // 2021-2023

Georgette LeBlanc // 2018 – 2020

George Elliott Clarke // 2016 – 2018

Michael Pleau // 2014 – 2016

Fred Wah // 2011 – 2013

Pierre DesRuisseaux // 2009 – 2011

John Steffler // 2006 – 2008

Pauline Michel // 2004 – 2006

George Bowering // 2002 – 2004

Comox Valley:

Natalie Nickerson // 2017-2019

Nanaimo:

Kamal Parmar // 2021-2023

Valina Zanetti // Youth Poet Laureate // 2019 – 2021

Tina Biello // 2017 – 2020

Kailey DeFehr // Youth Poet Laureate // 2017 – 2018

Naomi Beth Wakan // 2013 – 2016

New Westiminster:

Alan Hill // 2017 – present

Candice James // 2010 – 2016

Don Benson // 1999 – 2007

Edna Anderson // 1998 – 1999

Surrey:

Renée Sarojini Saklikar //2015 – 2018

Tofino:

Joanna Streetly //2018 – present

Vancouver:

Miss Christie Lee (Christie Charles) // 2018-2021

Rachel Rose // 2014 – 2017

Evelyn Lau // 2011 – 2014

Brad Cran // 2009 – 2011

George McWhirter // 2007 – 2009

Victoria:

John Barton // 2019 – 2022

Yvonne Blomer // 2015 – 2018

Argatu Ali // Youth Poet Laureate // 2018 – 2019

Maita Cienska // Youth Poet Laureate // 2017 – 2018

Ann-Bernice Thomas // Youth Poet Laureate // 2016 – 2017

Janet Marie Rogers // 2012 – 2014

Linda Rogers // 2009 – 2011

Carla Funk // 2006 – 2008

Banff:

Steven Ross Smith // 2019-2020

Amelie Patternson // 2017-2018

Calgary:

Natalie Meisner // 2020 – 2022

Sheri-D Wilson // 2018-2020

Micheline Maylor // 2016 – 2018

derek beaulieu // 2014 – 2016

Kris Demeanor // 2012 – 2014

Edmonton:

Nisha Patel // 2019 – present

Ahmed “Knowmadic” Ali // 2017-2019

Pierrette Requier // 2015 – 2017

Mary Pinkoski// 2013 – 2015

Anna Marie Sewell // 2011 – 2012

Roland Pemberton // 2006 – 2011

E.D. Blodgett // 2007 – 2009

Alice Major // 2005 – 2007

Saskatchewan Provincial Poet Laureate:

Bruce Rice // 2019 – present

Alasdair Rees // Youth Poet Laureate // 2019 – present

Brenda Schmidt // 2017-2018

Gerald Hill // 2016 – 2017

Judith Krause // 2014 – 2015

Donald Kerr // 2011 – 2013

Robert Currie // 2007 – 2010

Lousie B. Halfe // 2005 – 2006

Glen Sorestad // 2000 – 2004

Moose Jaw

Robert Currie & Gary Hyland // Lifetime Poets Laureate

Winnipeg:

Di Brandt // 2017-present

Provincial Poet Laureate

Randall Adjei // 2021 – 2023

Barrie:

Victoria Butler // 2018 – present

Damian Lopes // 2014 – present

Brantford:

John B Lee /granted in 2005 in perpetuity

Cobalt:
Ann Margetson

Cobourg:

Jessica Outram // 2019 – 2022

Ted Amsden // 2011 – 2018

Jill Battson // 2009 – 2011

Eric Winter // 1997 – 2009

Dufferin County:

Harry Posner // 2017-present

Emery:

Laurence Hutchman // 2018 – present

Kingston:

Jason Heroux // 2019 – present

Helen Humphreys // 2015 –  2019

Eric Folsom // 2011 – 2015

London:

Tom Cull // 2016 – present

Penn Kemp // 2011 – 2013

Mississauga:

Paul Edward Costa // 2019 – 2021

Pujita Verma // Youth Poet Laureate // 2018 – 2020

Wali Shah // 2017 – 2019

Rebecca Zseder // Youth Poet Laureate // 2016 – 2018

Anna Yin // 2015 – 2017

Norfolk County

John B. Lee // granted in 2011 in perpetuity

Ottawa:

Margaret Michèle Cook (French) & Diana Young (English) // 2019 – 2021

Andrée Lacelle (French) & Jamaal Jackson Rogers (English) // 2017 – 2019

Catherine Ahearn // 1981-1984

Cyril Dabydeen // 1984-1987

Patrick White // 1987-1990

Owen Sound:

Richard-Yves Sitoski // 2019 – 2021

Lauren Best // 2017-2019

Rob Rolfe & Larry Jensen // 2015 – 2017

Terry Burns // 2013 – 2014

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm // 2011 – 2012

Kristan Anderson // 2008 – 2010

Liz Zetlin // 2007 – 2008

Sudbury:

Chloé LaDuchesse // 2018 – 2020

Kim Fahner // 2016 – 2018

Thomas Leduc // 2014 – 2015

Daniel Aubin // 2012 – 2013

Roger Nash // 2010 – 2011

Toronto:

A. F. Moritz // 2019 – 2022

Anne Michaels // 2016 – 2019

George Elliott Clarke // 2012 – 2015

Dionne Brand // 2009 – 2012

Pier Giorgio Di Cicco // 2004 – 2009

Dennis Lee // 2001 – 2004

Windsor:

Mary Ann Mulhern // 2019 – 2022

Samantha Badaoa (Youth Poet Laureate) // 2019 – 2020

Marty Gervais // 2011 – 2019, Poet Laureate Emeritus

Woodstock:

Barry C. Butson // in perpetuity

Montreal

Bertrand Laverdure // 2015 – 2017

Fredericton:

Jenna Lyn Albert 2019 – 2021

Ian Letourneau, 2016 – 2018

Moncton:

Kayla Geitzler (Anglophone) 2019 – Present

Jean-Philippe Raiche (Francophone) 2019 – Present

Sackville:

Shoshanna Wingate //2019 – 2021

Marilyn Lerch // 2013 – 2017

Douglas Lochead // 2002 – 2011

PEI Provincial Poet Laureate:

Julie Pellissier-Lush // 2019 – present

Deidre Kessler // 2016 – 2019

Diane Hicks Morrow // 2013 – 2016

Hugh MacDonald // 2009 – 2013

David Helwig // 2008 – 2009

Frank Ledwell // 2004 – 2007

John Smith // 2002 – 2004

Cape Breton:  

Rita Joe (1932 – 2007)
Lifetime “Poet Laureate of the Mi’kmaq people”

Halifax:

Dr. Afua Cooper // 2018 – 2020

Rebecca Thomas // 2016 – 2018

El Jones // 2013 – 2015

Tanya Davis // 2011 – 2012

Shauntay Grant // 2009 – 2011

Lorri Neilsen Glenn // 2005 – 2009

Sue MacLeod // 2001 – 2005

St. John’s:

Mary Dalton // 2019 – 2020

George Murray // 2014 – 2017

Tom Dawe // 2010 – 2013

Agnes Walsh // 2006 – 2009

Yukon Provincial Poet Laureate:
pj johnson // 1994 – present