Owen Sound has a new Poet Laureate.
Kristan Anderson has been selected for the 2009/10 term by the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library.
Anderson takes over from the city’s first Poet Laureate, Liz Zetlin.
He says he will continue her work with the Poet of the Month Series and the Poet Laureate Map of Canada.
This year, the library was looking for someone who could focus on young people, to go along with their renovation of the Children’s Department and active Teen Advisory Council.
They say Anderson more than fits the bill, as he is a youth councillor and teacher by profession.
He is also the co-host of the Library’s coffee houses for youth, the founder of the Grey Bruce Slam Poetry Team, and the Slam Artistic Director for Words Aloud.
Anderson says one of his first goals is to get into the high schools and gets kids interested in spoken word poetry.
He says spoken word poetry is growing in popularity, with slam competitions providing kids the opportunity to travel the world, and he would love to see Grey Bruce youth make it to that level.
Anderson says it’s a way to have kids feel their voices are being heard and increase their self confidence.