Fourth Poet Laureate

Yvonne Blomer - Fourth Poet Laureate

Yvonne Blomer was Victoria's fourth Poet Laureate from 2015-2018.

She is an established poet, having published three collections of poetry and co-edited Poems from Planet Earth, an anthology from the Planet Earth Poetry reading series. Yvonne's work has twice been shortlisted for the CBC Literary Awards and she has appeared in The Best Canadian Poetry in English as well as in anthologies and literary journals in Canada, the UK and Japan. Yvonne’s recent collection of poems is As if a Raven.

After graduating from the University of Victoria, Yvonne lived in Kyushu, Japan for two years with her husband and obtained her Masters in Poetry at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In addition to poetry, Yvonne writes creative nonfiction and teaches poetry and memoir courses through Camosun College. She is currently working on a travel memoir titled Sugar Ride as well as new poems.

Victoria Poet Laureate Yvonne Blomer Wins Overleaf Award!

Congrats to City of Victoria Poet Laureate Yvonne Blomer for winning the Overleaf Award from Leaf Press!   

Overleaf is a chapbook manuscript competition which awards contracts to one Canadian and one international poet each year. Blomer is the Canadian winner and will have the opportunity to publish her manuscript “Elegies for Earth” as an artful chapbook.

Leaf Press publishes and promotes new Canadian poets and those in mid-career. Their mandate is to present poetry beautifully by maintaining high editorial and design standards and to support the poets by finding wider audiences. Learn more. 

Poet Laureate's Book Launch

Victoria Poet Laureate Yvonne Blomer was pleased to present her new book Sugar Ride: Cycling from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur, published by Palimpsest Press. The book is an account of the three months Blomer and her new husband biked almost 4,000 kilometres through Southeast Asia. Part love story, part travel adventure and part medical dance, Sugar Ride explores one woman's passion for cycling and the roads it pulls her along.

Poetry Readings by Yvonne Blomer

Yvonne performed her first poetry reading in her role of Poet Laureate to open the City Council meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 7 p.m. at City Hall: This salted table, our world [PDF - 104 KB] 

Additional poetry readings by Yvonne Blomer during her term include: