Poet Laureate
New Westminster’s Poet Laureate acts as a literary ambassador for the City of New Westminster and the community; advocating for literacy and the literary arts and helping to raise the status of poetry, language and the arts in the everyday consciousness of New Westminster residents. The Poet Laureate also develops meaningful engagement opportunities that enrich the lives of residents and visitors to the City.
Subscribe to Citypage Online or follow New Westminster Art Services on Facebook for opportunities to participate in projects involving the Poet Laureate.
Janet Kvammen has been appointed as the Poet Laureate for the City of New Westminster. Janet is a local poet and visual artist, Vice-President of New West Artists and President and founding board member of the Royal City Literary Arts Society. She is the recipient of the 2023 Bernie Legge Artist of the Year awarded by the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce. Janet has a passion and enthusiasm for, and deep and long-standing connection to the local literary arts community. Through the course of her three-year term Janet will serve as a literary ambassador for the City, presenting readings at civic events reflecting on the life of the City and developing opportunities to engage the wider community to participate in and appreciate the literary arts.
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Poet Elliott Slinn was named New Westminster’s fifth (and youngest) Poet Laureate in June 2021, actively beginning his tenure in August. Slinn was born and raised in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood of New Westminster and still resides in the Royal City today. He has performed at the 2015 Lululemon Leadership Conference, a LUSH product launch and for both the Vancouver and New Westminster Arts Council. Slinn, in addition to being a poet, is also a singer-songwriter whose first single, It’s You, was featured on Apple Music’s “Hot Tracks” list and in BeatRoute magazine. Slinn’s poetry and lyrics focus on the existential events of our day-to-day existence. As one article noted, “the lyrics are straightforward romance bordering on Sufism. Slinn’s sparse vocals let the poetry of the lyrics take center stage.”Slinn’s work has been described as immediate and accessible, as he aims to transform his personal tale into a shared experience. He is currently working on his first book of poetry and aims to record more music in the future.
You can find excerpts of his work on his Instagram account: @elliott_slinn
New Westminster Poet Laureate, Alan Hill (2017-2020) in partnership with the City’s Arts Services Department published A Poetry of Place: Journeys Across New Westminster which highlights the work of 35 local poets all working with the poetic form of the “poetry postcard.” The intention of this collection was to highlight and explore physical location and its emotional and cultural significance specific to New Westminster residents.Starting in June of 2019, Hill workshopped the project with a variety of community partners including: Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Royal City Literary Arts Society, Douglas College, New Westminster Secondary School, Burnaby Central Secondary School and New Westminster Public Library. Afterwards, a call was put out to the New West community for submissions for the book. With the help of a selection committee of local literary professionals, the Poet Laureate curated and edited the submitted works and designer Johanna Bartels began work on the layout and cover. Images include photographs from Bartels and the participating poets as well as selected maps and archival images from the New Westminster Museum and Archives.To purchase your copy of this vibrant, multicultural and multi-dimensional collection of poetry postcards please contact Cultural Facility Clerk, JoAnn Tosh: jtosh@newwestcity.ca or (604-527-4640, press 2).Books are $12 (tax included).
Candice JamesCandice James is a professional writer, poet, visual artist, musician, singer/songwriter, workshop facilitator and book reviewer. She completed her second three year term as Poet Laureate in June 2016 and was appointed Poet Laureate Emerita November 2016. She is board advisor to Royal City Literary Arts Society and director of the Pacific Festival of the Book. She is founder and past president of Royal City Literary Arts Society; past president of the Federation of British Columbia Writers; and past director of SpoCan. She is a full member of the League of Canadian Poets. She also is founder of: Poetry New Westminster; Poetry In The Park; Poetic Justice and Slam Central. She has been keynote speaker at Word On The Street, and Black Dot Roots Cultural Collective and has judged the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and Jessamy Stursberg Youth Poet Award for the League of Canadian Poets. She is the recipient of Vancouver Pandora’s Collective Citizenship Award and recipient of the Bernie Legge Artist/Cultural award.
Candice is author of thirteen books of poetry with five different publishers: A Split In The Water (Fiddlehead 1979); Inner Heart – A Journey (Silver Bow 2010); Bridges and Clouds (Silver Bow 2011); Midnight Embers – a Book of Sonnets (Libros Libertad 2012); Shorelines – a Book of Villanelles (Silver Bow 2013); Ekphrasticism – Painted Words (Silver Bow 2013); Purple Haze (Libros Libertad 2014) A Silence of Echoes (Silver Bow 2014); Merging Dimensions (Ekstasis Editions 2015); Short Shots (Silver Bow 2016) and Colours of India (Xpress Publisher, India 2016; The Water Poems (Ekstasis Editions 2017).
Candice has featured at many venues both civic and public and appeared on television and radio. She has presented workshops, mentored writers; written prefaces and reviews, published articles, and short stories. Her poetry has appeared in many international anthologies and her poems have been translated into Arabic, Italian, Bengali and Farsi. Her artwork has appeared in Duende at Goddard College of Fine Arts, Vermont, USA.
