Poet Laureate Podcast: Inaugural Community Episode (2025)

Featuring: Lorne Daniel, Jeremy Loveday, Zoe Dickinson & Tracy Wai de Boer

Recorded live in the Garden Studio at Haus of Owl Creation Lab, this episode celebrates community, poetic resilience, and the power of shared voice. Four poets with new or forthcoming collections join Kyeren Regehr to read and reflect on the craft of poetry and the lives behind the words. We open with Lorne Daniel’s quietly rousing invocation of the ocean as a metaphor for enduring care, followed by Jeremy Loveday’s fierce and vulnerable meditation on masculinity, protection, and the tensions of public vulnerability. Zoe Dickinson brings a bookstore dreamscape alive with wit, longing, and ecological reverence, and Tracy Wai de Boer closes with graceful insight and imagistic precision, threading language through memory and the body.

Together, these poets offer a chorus of perspectives—on vulnerability, humour, grief, embodiment, and the shifting boundary between art and daily life. With three debut collections and a fifth from a seasoned poet, their combined experience spans decades of literary engagement: from managing bookstores to mentoring youth, from editing anthologies to animating public space through poetry and visual art.

Lorne Daniel was one of the first poets to emerge from the Canadian prairie poetry scene in the 1970s and published four collections. He also co-edited the seminal poetry journal Canada Goose and the anthology series Ride Off Any Horizon. As a freelance writer, Lorne contributed reviews, op-eds and features for dozens of newspapers and magazines across Canada. What is Broken Binds Us is Lorne's newest and fifth collection.

Jeremy Loveday is an award-winning poet, spoken word artist, and community builder. As co-founder and former Artistic Director of Victorious Voices, Jeremy has helped hundreds of young poets find their first stage. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Best Canadian Poetry 2023. Jeremy was the 2020 winner of the Zaccheus Jackson Nyce Memorial Award. After more than two decades of performing poetry, Maybe the Starling is his first full-length collection.

Zoe Dickinson's poetry is rooted in British Columbia’s Pacific coastline, she is a manager at Russell Books, one of Canada’s largest used, antiquarian, and new bookstores and is an Artistic Director emertia of Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series. Zoe has published two award-winning chapbooks and her first full-length poetry collection, Staff Picks for Invertebrates, is forthcoming from Guernica Editions in 2026.

Tracy Wai de Boer (she/they) is an award-winning poet, interdisciplinary artist, curator, and PhD candidate. Her debut book, Nostos, was published in May 2025 with Palimpsest Press. Tracy’s chapbook, maybe, basically, was nominated for the bpNichol Award. She has co-authored Impact: Women Writing After Concussion, which won the Book Publishers of Alberta Best Non-Fiction Award and was named one of CBC’s Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year. 

All four poets live Victoria, British Columbia, on the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən people

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

Poet Laureate Podcast – Episode Eight Joanna Streetly | Deep Time, Transformation, and the Ethics of Place

In this eighth episode, Kyeren Regehr sits down with Joanna Streetly—poet, memoirist, and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Tofino. Writing from a float house in Clayoquot Sound, Joanna explores the intersections of deep time, personal grief, and the fluid nature of transformation.

The conversation navigates the ethics of writing about place as a settler, the "brave swimmer" metaphor for exploring darkness, and how the strict discipline of Haiku can sharpen a narrative voice. Joanna shares moving stories from her laureateship, including her work amplifying the histories of Japanese internment and residential schools  through community elders. Featuring three poems, including the evocative “Cochlear” and the searing “First Supper.” 

Joanna Streetly’s work appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2024, Best Canadian Essays 2017, and numerous literary journals. Her latest collection, All of Us Hidden (Caitlin Press), arrives this fall. Her memoir, Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast, is a BC Bestseller. Other titles include Paddling Through Time, Silent Inlet, and the poetry collection This Dark (Postelsia). She has been shortlisted for the FBCW Literary Writes Poetry Contest, The Spectator’s Shiva Naipaul Award, and the Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction Prize. Raised in Trinidad, Joanna moved to Canada at 18 and has lived on the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht people since 1990. She served as the 2018-2020 Tofino Poet Laureate.

This episode is generously supported by Mermaid Tales Bookshop. A charming independent bookstore in Tofino, BC, Mermaid Tales is known for its carefully curated collection of novels, local interest reads, and literary treasures that help readers take chances on stories that open new vistas. Discover more at mermaidbooks.ca.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

In this seventh episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Yvonne Blomer—poet, editor, and the fourth Poet Laureate of Victoria. With nuance and urgency, Yvonne speaks to reimagining myth through a feminist lens, her environmental curation of the anthologies Refugium, Sweet Water, and Sublime, and the ways poetry intersects with mothering, disability, and visual art. Featuring three poems, including the haunting palindrome “Audubon: Still Life.” Recorded at Haus of Owl Creation Labs on Lekwungen Homelands in Victoria, BC.

Yvonne Blomer is the author of Death of Persephone: A Murder, a poetic noir mystery rooted in myth and the ongoing violence against women and girls. An excerpt won the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Prize in 2021. She has edited five anthologies, including the celebrated eco-poetry triptych Refugium, Sweet Water, and Sublime, as well as Hologram: Homage to P.K. Page, and served as Arc Magazine’s poet-in-residence for 2022–23. With an MA from the University of East Anglia, she teaches immersive poetry workshops online and lives on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking people.

This episode is generously supported by Bolen Books. Independently owned and operated by the Bolen family since 1975, Bolen Books is Western Canada’s largest single-location independent bookstore and a cornerstone of Victoria’s literary life. Discover more at Bolen Books.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

Poet Laureate Podcast – Episode Six
Drew Lavigne | The Aesthetic Pull

In this episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Drew Lavigne—poet laureate of Moncton, poetry editor at The Fiddlehead, curator of the Attic Owl Reading Series, and author of Evening Dress (Anstruther Press). With precision and vulnerability, Drew speaks about the compulsion to write, the quiet power of memory, and poetry as both record and ritual.

The conversation travels through long-form poetics, family mythologies, shame and transformation, queer literary lineage, and the textured intimacy of bilingual translation. Drew shares how poems insist themselves into his day, why aesthetic experience can redeem even the hardest moments, and how poetry, like music, changes us in the air.

Drew Lavigne is a member of the editorial board at The Fiddlehead and host of the Attic Owl reading series. Recent work has appeared in Vallum, Visual Arts News, Tourniquet Magazine, and with Éditions Rhizome. He translated the collection Poems Twofold with Georgette LeBlanc and is the author of Evening Dress with Anstruther Press. 

This episode is generously supported by The Fiddlehead, Atlantic Canada’s international literary journal. Published quarterly in Fredericton, The Fiddlehead features exceptional poetry, fiction, and reviews from Canada and beyond. Learn more at thefiddlehead.ca

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

Episode 5: Fiona Tinwei Lam on Poetry as Ritual, Film, and Public Art
The Poet Laureate Podcast with host Kyeren Regehr

In this episode, former Vancouver Poet Laureate Fiona Tinwei Lam joins Kyeren Regehr to explore poetry’s power to honor history, heal collective wounds, and engage the public in fresh and unexpected ways.

Fiona begins with her moving poem “Gift”, which commemorates the Uda family’s donation of 1,000 cherry trees to Vancouver—most of which were only planted after the family’s forced internment during WWII. From there, the conversation blossoms into questions of memory, reconciliation, and poetry as a kind of ritual or ceremony.

We also dive into Fiona’s groundbreaking City Poems Project, which brought poets and student filmmakers together to create poetry films woven into Vancouver’s public spaces and a geolocated app. She shares her vision for poetry videos as an accessible art form that combines word, image, and sound to tap into a poem’s unconscious resonance, and she reflects on her own award-winning work in the medium.

Listeners will also hear “Splash”, a collaborative poem written with Grade 5/6 students about Vivian Jung, the first Chinese Canadian teacher hired by the Vancouver School Board, whose courage helped desegregate public pools. Fiona speaks about the role of ancestry, migration, music, and climate concerns in shaping her poetic voice, and she closes with “Covenant”, a searing erasure poem that reclaims language from a racist property covenant.

This conversation is a testament to poetry’s ability to cross mediums, uncover buried histories, and create spaces of beauty, justice, and connection.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

Poet Laureate Podcast – Episode Four
Steven Ross Smith |  Writing Like Jazz 

In this fourth episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Steven Ross Smith — poet, mentor, arts leader, and former Poet Laureate of Banff. One of Canada’s great poetic experimenters, Steven speaks about improvisation and constraint, the sonic body of the poem, and his long-running Flutter Tongue series. With clarity and generosity, he reflects on risk, coherence, and the question of what poetry is — and might yet become.

The episode features three readings, including an untitled poem from Fluttertongue Book Three: Disarray, a lush invocation of oceanic memory and language, and “How Is,” a piece that balances wit, resistance, and political undercurrent.

This episode offers a reflective pace — Steven’s words are full of nuance and deep listening, and we’re grateful to share them.

This episode is generously supported by Sage Hill Writing, one of Canada’s leading providers of learning opportunities for professional and emerging creative writers. Based in Saskatchewan, Sage Hill offers retreats and programs that provide writers at all stages of development with tools, community, and mentorship to move their writing forward. At Sage Hill, your writing matters. Learn more at sagehillwriting.ca.

Books by Steven Ross Smith are available at fluttertongue.ca. The Green Rose (with Phil Hall) is available from  above/ground press and Lakeshore Press.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

In this third episode Kyeren Regehr welcomes John Barton—poet, editor, essayist, and the fifth Poet Laureate of Victoria, BC. With unflinching grace and poetic precision, John speaks to the evolution of queer poetics in Canada, the intimate distances of influence and his evolving relationship with formal constraint. Featuring three poems, including the Frank O’Hara–inspired “In Eggs and Love.” Recorded in Victoria, BC, on the Lekwungen homelands at Haus of Owl.

Please note: this is our longest episode so far, and we couldn’t bear to cut it. John’s stories and poems invite deep listening, and we hope you’ll settle in and take the time. We’re honoured to hold space for this conversation in its fullness, especially during Pride month. 

This episode is generously supported by The Malahat Review. A cornerstone of Canadian letters since 1967, The Malahat Review is published quarterly by the University of Victoria and showcases exceptional contemporary literary writing from Canada and beyond. The Malahat Review has been a vital space for literary excellence and discovery for nearly six decades. You can support this iconic Canadian literary journal by subscribing at malahatreview.ca.

John Barton (https://www.john-barton.ca) is a poet, essayist, editor and writing mentor. His collections and chapbooks of poetry include Hymn, For the Boy with the Eyes of the Virgin: Selected Poems, Polari, Lost Family: A Memoir, which was nominated for the 2021 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, Stopwatch, and Compulsory Figures, forthcoming from Caitlin Press in September 2025. 

His other books include Seminal: The Anthology of Canada’s Gay-Male Poets, The Malahat Review at Fifty, We Are Not Avatars: Essays, Memoirs, Manifestos, The Essential Douglas LePan, which won a 2020 eLit Award, The Essential Derk Wynand, and Best Canadian Poetry 2023. 

Sonnets from Lost Family have been set to music and performed as Coda for the Victims at VerseFest in Ottawa, with the support of Qu’Art, in March 2023, and as Chosen Family by the Chronos Vocal Ensemble in Edmonton to settings composed by Stuart Beatch in January 2024. 

The recipient of three Archibald Lampman Awards, a CBC Literary Award, and a National Magazine Award, he was made a life member of the League of Canadian Poets in 2021. Co-editor of Ottawa’s Arc Poetry Magazine for thirteen years and editor of The Malahat Review for fourteen years, he sits on Grain Magazine’s advisory board and was a member of Plenitude’s inaugural advisory board. 

Born in Edmonton and raised in Calgary, John lives in Victoria, where from 2019 to 2022, he was the city’s first male and first queer poet laureate.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

In this second episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Iranian-Canadian poet and multi-genre writer Hollay Ghadery, inaugural Poet Laureate of Scugog Township, who speaks with deep honesty and intelligence about poetry as a practice of receptivity, form as a map, and writing as a means of reclaiming enchantment. Featuring three poems, including Braids. Recorded in Victoria, BC, on the Lekwungen homelands at Haus of Owl.

This episode is generously sponsored by Munro’s Books. A literary landmark in downtown Victoria, Munro’s has been a sanctuary for readers and writers alike for over sixty years. Munro’s Books ships internationally: books by Hollay Ghadery can be ordered from munrobooks.com.

Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.

Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her poetry collection, Rebellion Box, was published by Radiant Press in 2023, and her short fiction collection, Widow Fantasies, came out with Gordon Hill Press in 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is forthcoming with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children’s book, Being with the Birds, will be released by Guernica Editions in 2027.

Hollay is a host on The New Books Network and a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets, and co-chair of the League’s BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at hollayghadery.com.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

In this debut episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes acclaimed Métis poet Lorri Neilsen Glenn who speaks with clarity and grace about writing as a way to think, to listen, and to find connection across time and experience. Featuring three poems, including Writing Has Always Felt Like Praying. Recorded in Victoria, BC, on the Lekwungen homelands at Haus of Owl. 

This episode is generously sponsored by Munro's Books. A literary landmark in downtown Victoria, Munro’s has been a sanctuary for readers and writers alike for over sixty years. Munro's Books ships internationally: books by Lorri Neilsen Glenn can be ordered from munrobooks.com

Lorri Neilsen Glenn is a Canadian poet, ethnographer, essayist and educator. Born in Winnipeg, and raised on the Prairies, she moved to Nova Scotia in 1983. Neilsen Glenn is the author and/or contributing editor of fifteen titles of poetry, creative nonfiction and scholarly works.

She was the first Métis Poet Laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Professor Emerita at Mount Saint Vincent University. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Lorri has served on juries for the Canada Council, CBC literary awards and numerous provincial and national book prizes. 

Lorri's poetry has been adapted several times for libretti and her essays and poems appear in numerous anthologies and literary journals. She was a recipient of Halifax's Women of Excellence award, has had appointments as Writer in Residence across Canada and served as President of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. Lorri has mentored writers across Canada and in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, and Chile. She divides her time between Halifax and Rose Bay, Nova Scotia. 

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [email protected].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.