Poet Laureate

Evelyn Lau is Vancouver's third Poet Laureate and will begin her three-year term on October 22, 2011.

News release: City announces Vancouver's third poet laureate

A Poet Laureate ceremony will be held at the close of the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference to welcome Evelyn Lau as Vancouver's third Poet Laureate and to congratulate outgoing Poet Laureate Brad Cran on all of his achievements in the role. View the invitation.

Evelyn Lau will also take part in a panel event at the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference, organized by outgoing Poet Laureate Brad Cran. View the V125PC schedule.

What is a Poet Laureate?

The Poet Laureate - “the people’s poet” - is an honorary position that was established by City Council in December 2006 to honour and celebrate the contribution of literature and poetry to life in Vancouver. A generous endowment to support the Poet Laureate Program by Yosef Wosk, OBC was also established in 2006.

During the term, the Poet Laureate acts as a champion for poetry, language and the arts, and creates a unique artistic legacy through public readings and civic interactions. The Poet Laureate is also expected to attend a variety of civic functions, participate in public poetry events and carry through one or more special civic projects. The general mandate is to raise the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Vancouverites. Each Poet Laureate is free to pursue an individual agenda in addition to their civic duties.

The Poet Laureate Program is a partnership of the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library and the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.

History of the Poet Laureate position

The Poet Laureate is an honorary position that was established by City Council in December 2006 to honour and celebrate the contribution of literature and poetry to life in Vancouver. The position is funded by a generous endowment established by Dr. Yosef Wosk, OBC, in 2006.

George McWhirter, Professor Emeritus of UBC’s Creative Writing Program was named Vancouver's first Poet Laureate on March 8, 2007. In 2009, McWhirter published the anthology A Verse Map of Vancouver with Anvil Press, which included upwards of 100 poets who mapped Vancouver’s verse geography.

Brad Cran, Vancouver’s second Poet Laureate, will complete his term on October 22, 2011. He organized the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference (October 19-22, 2011), a national gathering of a generation of poets who published their first book after 1990. The conference brings together 100 poets from across North America for a landmark exchange of ideas, poetry and poetics. Registration is open to the public and available at http://v125pc.com/register/.

Contact

Contact the Poet Laureate: poetlaureate@vancouver.ca

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