Windsor youth poet laureate Samantha Badaoa reads from her work at Phog Lounge in pre-pandemic days. Photo by Marty Gervais.
The City of Windsor is calling for applications or nominations for the city’s next youth poet laureate. The position honours a poet aged 14 to 24 years who writes excellent poetry and focuses on themes that are relevant to youth who live in the city of Windsor.
The inaugural youth poet laureate, UWindsor English grad Samantha Badaoa (BA 2018), will reach the end of her term in 2021. During her tenure, she participated in numerous public readings and published her first collection of poetry, So am I, with Black Moss Press.
“Through this program I have been able to explore the boundaries of poetry and realize its ongoing importance to the health of our city,” she says. “The connections I have made during these last two years and the work that has come from the support of the arts community in Windsor are truly indescribable.
“More importantly, I have been able to witness firsthand the talent and potential that the youth in our city possess — their resilience and courage is a testament to us all. I cannot wait to see how our arts community progresses under their leadership.”
The deadline for applications or nominations is March 5. Applicants must reside in the city of Windsor and have a strong connection to the local arts, culture, and heritage community. The two-year term carries an honorarium of $1,000 per year.
Find details, including duties of the position, a submission form, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria, on the city website.
Project to showcase voices of resilience
An innovative project will bring poetry to the Windsor community during National Poetry Month by placing short, six-line inspiration poems on interior advertisement spaces across the Transit Windsor fleet of buses and throughout select facilities beginning April 1.
Local poets, particularly youth 14 to 24 years of age, are invited to submit original, six-line, inspirational poems on the theme of “resilience.” In addition to publication on the advertisements, the selected poets will receive certificates of recognition.