daveb
insert clever quip about ubiquity here
i know you're as excited as i am · Dec 13, 12:08 pm
canada has a new poet laureate: John Steffler
you may be asking yourself what a poet laureate is. if you are, wikipedia has the answer for you.
basically it’s a position set up by the government of canada – with the sole purpose of making poetry more popular, and active in daily life. this is by far, the best thing in the world in my opinion.
they give the laureate an office, and a salary of $13k a year – for a 2 year term.
robert pinsky – a laureate in the us – started the favourite poem project where everyone from the president to people in the streets read their favourite poems out loud.
steffler – according to his cbc interview says he wants to promote writing and literature in general in canada
i’m delighted we have this post in canada, but i’m sad that it doesn’t pay enough to support a writer full time.
Award-winning novelist
Born in Toronto, Steffler holds an BA in English from the University of Toronto, and a master’s degree in English from the University of Guelph. He has taught at Guelph and, most recently, at Memorial University’s Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, N.L.
“Mr. Steffler has spent a good part of his career teaching others about his craft,” Milliken said. “I welcome his appointment to a position that seeks to enhance Canadians’ appreciation of the value of poetry in our society.“
Steffler’s books of poems include That Night We Were Ravenous, The Wreckage of Play and The Grey Islands. A novel, The Afterlife of George Cartwright, was shortlisted for the 1992 Governor General’s Award for fiction and won the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction award.
Steffler, now retired, lives in Montreal.
The poet laureate’s duties include composing poetry, especially for use in Parliament on special occasions, sponsoring poetry readings and advising the Parliamentary librarian on the library’s collection and acquisitions to enrich the collection’s cultural holdings.
Categories: general / books |
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— Cal Jan 15, 12:42 am #