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Becoming Poet Laureate in a time of pandemic

Instructor Sue Goyette latest from Dal community named to HRM role

- May 5, 2020

Goyette, an award-winning poet and novelist, has been teaching creative writing at Dal for 13 years, currently to fourth-year students. (Provided photo)
Goyette, an award-winning poet and novelist, has been teaching creative writing at Dal for 13 years, currently to fourth-year students. (Provided photo)

A Poet Laureate's role frequently revolves around responding to requests from the community for new work, often intended to mark important occasions or public events.

But what happens when a lot of those moments and gatherings have been placed on hold temporarily due to a pandemic?

ā€œI am trying to not have any expectations because I donā€™t know what it is going to be like. We are on new ground with this pandemic,ā€ says Sue Goyette, the Halifax-based poet, novelist, and Dal Creative Writing instructor named last week as the .

Goyette follows a long line of former Poet Laureates with Dal connections, including present/past instructors and faculty members Shauntay Grant (2009-2011), El Jones (2013-15) and Afua Cooper (2018-2020) as well as alum Rebecca Thomas (2016-2018).

ā€œI am going to stay present and connected to as many people as I can and listen to all their requests and look for potential ways that poetry may manifest to make a more meaningful, connective community,ā€ she says.

Language and listening


Goyette has been teaching creative writing at Dal for 13 years, currently to fourth-year students.

ā€œI love teaching creative writing,ā€ she says, ā€œI love my students. They are fabulous.ā€
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She has published several books of poetry, including Penelope, a book-length poem that transforms the eponymous character, a secondary figure in Homerā€™s epic, Odysseus, to the main character. Her works have received numerous awards and recognition.

ā€œI like language,ā€ she says. ā€œI like how words can convey things when they are put next to words you do not expect; how they can combust and how they can initiate or invigorate our thinking.ā€ She adds, ā€œI also think a lot about silence in my work and the act of listening, which I think is incredibly important both in community and poems.ā€

ā€˜Art is essentialā€™


The HRM created the Poet Laureate position to select an individual who will engage residents in literature, poetry and spoken word.Ģż Ģż
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ā€œIt is a role that facilitates conversation and a more arts-based approach to thinking,ā€ says Goyette. ā€œSo, I see myself in a role that creates an opportunity for everyone to think of poetry more in their day-to-day lives and as a way of expressing the inexpressible or things they think they cannot articulate.ā€

Goyette says she appreciates the significance of the HRM Poet Laureate program and her selection.

ā€œIt shows that the mayor and all the good people working for the HRM understand the importance, value, and meaningfulness poetry can bring to the community,ā€ she says.

In announcing Goyetteā€™s selection last week, Mayor Mike Savage said, ā€œThis proud municipal tradition, which relies on the written and spoken word to articulate the joys and struggles of our shared community, takes on new significance in these unprecedented times.ā€

Goyette echoes Savageā€™s sentiment.

ā€œI think that during times like this [COVID-19 pandemic] art is essential ā€” art is essential in all times,ā€ she says, ā€œbut we are really reminded how essential and crucial art is to our wellbeing, to our mental health and our good spirits.ā€