![]() Does Canada have a national poet laureate?
Yes, Federal legislators created the position of Parliamentary Poet Laureate in 2001. There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing.
John Cage this project
generously supported by... |
Poet Laureate Map of Canada
Thoughts on PoetryFor many thousands of years language has stored up not just a map of all the places the human mind and heart can go but an instinct, a hunger for those routes and places – like a dog’s hunger to go running and sniffing. Poetry is language off the leash, exercising its muscle and intricate skills. After a lot of dull usage – political speeches, sales pitches, literary theory – it can hardly restrain itself and it pulls us along into the fresh air and strange twilight colours, into sudden memories of our early lives. It can take us to the limits of our world, into griefs and ecstasies, even out into madness and non-human experiences, if we want it to and it’s in the mood. Poetry is an ageless ancient guide we can team up with to discover vantage points that reveal the broad landscape we’ve been living in blindly, piecemeal; with its keen senses it brings the world to life for us with more intensity than we’ve ever known; it surprises us with the energies in wild things, including our dreams and passions; it elicits from deep within us our appetite for play, adventure, love and invention, and our capacity to be at home in the ever-changing world as it really is. John Steffler About Poetry
Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.
Marianne Moore
Since I've started learning the language [English] I've noticed how many people don't listen to each other. They automatically adopt a sort of 'condom language' as their protection . Poetry Goran Simic
We're citizens of the nation of poets. There's one noble nation on this earth – the nation of poetry – the people's republic of poetry. Matthew Rohrer
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
Griffin Trust Poetry awards June 6/07 Mark Strand
A poem begins with a lump in the throat. Reasons for Moving Robert Frost
|
|