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Arts and Culture > Poet Laureate Meet Victoria's New Poet Laureate
Janet Marie Rogers was announced as Victoria's new Poet Laureate at a Victoria City Council meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2012. Selected by nomination, the Poet Laureate serves as Victoria's literary and cultural ambassador for a three-year term. A Mohawk writer from the Six Nations band in southern Ontario, Janet Rogers was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and has resided in Victoria since 1994. A published and award-winning poet, she has worked and studied in the genres of poetry, short fiction, spoken word performance poetry, video poetry and recorded poems with music and scriptwriting. Janet Rogers hosts Native Waves Radio on CFUV 101.9fm and Tribal Clefs every Tuesday on CBC Radio One. Her video poem What Did You Do Boy, created in support of a spoken word track from her CD Firewater, earned nominations at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards 2009 and the Native American Music Awards 2010. Rogers' radio documentary Bring Your Drum (50 Years of Indigenous Protest Music), aired in July 2011 on CBC's Inside the Music and won the Best Radio award at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival 2011. Her newest poetry collection is titled Unearthed. As Victoria's third Poet Laureate, Janet Rogers looks forward to creating opportunities where the community can come together in celebration of our poetic voices on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people. Her three-year term ends November 30, 2014. Change-Makers [PDF 22KB] is the poem read by Janet Rogers at the Victoria City Council meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2012. "The People's Poet"The Poet Laureate, also known as "the people's poet," is an honorary position that was established by Victoria City Council in June 2006 to honour and celebrate the contribution of literature and poetry in Victoria. Victoria's Poet Laureate is required to produce a minimum of three new original works each year that reflect or represent ideas and issues of importance to the people of Victoria. The Poet Laureate also recites poems at City events, City Council meetings and official functions including the annual Victoria Book Prize Awards Gala. In addition, the Poet Laureate hosts a number of poetry events in the community each year. An honorarium of $2,500 is awarded each year of the three-year term to cover expenses. The official term of the Victoria's third Poet Laureate is December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2014. Poet Laureate Selection ProcessThe City of Victoria's Poet Laureate is selected by nomination. Nominees must reside in the Capital Region; have an established body of work or have made a significant contribution to poetry and literary life in the community; and have produced a minimum of two published works (not self-published). Candidates must be nominated by at least one person. Self-nominations are accepted. For detailed information, please see the information package below. Submissions are evaluated by a peer committee comprised of representatives of Victoria's literary and poetry community. The Greater Victoria Public Library administers the nomination selection process while the City if Victoria provides program support to the Poet Laureate. Second Poet LaureateLocal poet, Linda Rogers, served as the City of Victoria's second Poet Laureate from December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2011. More... Inaugural Poet LaureateLocal poet, Carla Funk, served as the City of Victoria's first Poet Laureate from June 2006 to November 30, 2008. More... Contact UsTerri Askham
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