The call is out again! Lauren Best is coming to the end of her two-year tenure as Owen Sound Poet Laureate so the search is on for someone else to fill the position. The Owen Sound Poet Laureate is a program of the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library. The successful candidate will be Owen Sound’s seventh poet laureate, serving a two-year term, October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2021. Applications are due by Friday, August 16.

If you are a poet in Owen Sound or Grey-Bruce, with a substantial body of work (published or not), you are welcome to apply. Expectations are high for this part-time — though prestigious — position that comes with a modest honorarium. The poet laureate writes poetry about the area, composes poems for special events, does public performances, works with local poets and writers, and acts as literary ambassador for the city and the region.

The Poet Laureate is chosen by the Poet Laureate Advisory Committee (PLAC), comprised of three community members plus Library staff, and they are looking for a candidate with just the right combination of skills. “We want someone who’s a good writer of course, but we’re also looking for an ambassador, someone comfortable reaching out to our diverse poetic community and beyond”, said Liz Zetlin, chair of the selection committee who was Owen Sound’s first poet laureate. “As well, we’re looking for someone who will share his or her passion for our community, poetry, and the literary arts.” In addition, PLAC will be looking for compelling, creative ideas for the vision, and for the legacy project (environmental focus encouraged but not required) which should have a unique and lasting contribution to the community.

Zetlin’s legacy project was the Poet of the Month features in the Sun Times, the Poets Laureate Map of Canada, which is unique to Canada, and her book, Addictions of a Poet Laureate. Zetlin was followed by Kristen Anderson, whose focus was to help young people find their poetic voices. Then Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm brought an aboriginal perspective to the position. For the next two years, Terry Burns explored the connection between poetry and theatre. As her legacy project, Burns edited an anthology of food-themed poetry called Mix Well, which featured work by 38 local poets. For the 2015 - 2017 term, Poets Laureate Rob Rolfe and Larry Jensen shared the position and developed a unique style of poetry and music and song. Their legacy project was a CD entitled Mudtown Songs and Poetry and a legacy performance, Metissage from Nawash to Mudtown: the untold stories of Owen Sound, September 14, 2017 at Heartwood Hall. For the current term, Poet Laureate Lauren Best’s focus has been to encourage children to express themselves through poetry. As her legacy project, she created Poetry Play Kits which contain activities for parents and children to have fun with language together, and are available to borrow from the Library’s Youth Services Department. 

The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library hosts the poet laureate program with funding from several members of the community. The poet laureate’s honorarium and other expenses for the current term are covered by donations from David Madill, CFP of BMO Nesbitt Burns, Andrew Armitage, John A. Tamming Law and Elizabeth Warren. Never supported by tax-based funding, the existence of the poet laureate program depends entirely on donations from community members who see the benefit of having a local advocate for the literary arts. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor of the Owen Sound Poet Laureate program is invited to contact Tim Nicholls Harrison, CEO, Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library at 519-376-6623 ext. 201, or through owensound.library.on.ca.

Anyone interested in becoming Owen Sound Poet Laureate 2019 - 2021 can find further details about how to apply at the “News” tab at the Library website: www.owensound.library.on.ca. All applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Applications:

No later than 4:00 pm on August 16, 2019, applications must be:

1.emailed to Liz Zetlin, [email protected], and

2. a hard-copy application package must be delivered to the Library, 824 First Avenue West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K4

source: media release, Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library