Collingwood is celebrating a new poet laureate.
A poet, writer, student, and advocate for the environment, Claudia Ferraro has had her poetry displayed at the Dalhousie Art Gallery and published in Fathom, a literary magazine for both Dalhousie and King’s Universities.
Claudia currently resides in Nottawa and grew up in Collingwood.
She was formally announced as the 2020-2022 Collingwood Poet Laureate during yesterday’s town Council meeting.
Ferraro was on hand virtually to accept the position and provide an overview of her vision for the two-year term as well as read one of her poems.
“I’m so honoured and excited to accept this position with Collingwood, and proud to be part of a community that values poetry,” says Claudia Ferraro. “I hope to make it an even more accessible and helpful tool for community members to work through the complex personal and public questions we are all facing at the moment.”
Entering her thesis year in university, which she is completing online, Ferraro is studying in-depth the power of eco-poetry as climate change pedagogy. During her two-year term as Poet Laureate, Ferraro will act as a champion for poetry in the community, appearing at civic and community events, opening avenues for expression by new poets and encouraging an appreciation for poetry and the spoken word.
“Poetry doesn’t have to be pompous – I’ve always looked at it as play and appreciated the room it leaves for wildness to re-enter into our language,” she continues. I’ve been exploring how this sort of energy can be experienced not just on the page, but online and with our voices, and where this energy might guide us in communal but uncommon ways.”
Applications for Collingwood’s Poet Laureate position were garnered through an open call for submissions. A $7,000 honorarium is provided for the two-year term.
Collingwood celebrates new poet laureate, Claudia Ferraro. MORE >> https://t.co/GFFcLY1qrk pic.twitter.com/PjQierjYJS
— Town of Collingwood (@TownCollingwood) October 19, 2020