{"id":58884,"date":"2025-05-29T08:39:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T11:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=58884"},"modified":"2025-05-29T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T13:57:40","slug":"tantramar-poet-laureate-laura-watson-winds-down-first-term-hopes-to-continue-mandate-until-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/tantramar-poet-laureate-laura-watson-winds-down-first-term-hopes-to-continue-mandate-until-2028\/","title":{"rendered":"Tantramar poet laureate Laura Watson winds down first term, hopes to continue mandate until 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tantramar Poet Laureate Laura Watson at her kitchen table in spring 2024. Photo: Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tantramar Poet Laureate Laura Watson will wind down her first three-year term at the end of June, and Tantramar council will decide next month whether or not to renew the writer\u2019s mandate for another three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality’s chief wordsmith came to council Monday to talk about some of the initiatives she has taken on during her tenure, including monthly Writers\u2019 Open Mic events in Sackville, and a chapbook featuring the submissions from Tantramar\u2019s annual poetry contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the goal of Writers’ Open Mic events is to \u201cprovide a regular space for writers in the area to share their work, see how people respond to it, try things out, and hear from other writers,\u201d said Watson. \u201cThe other main goal is to kind of build community around writing, to create an opportunity for writers to get to know each other and support each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watson said the events bring in writers of all ages and genres, some travelling in from around the region to attend. \u201cI’ve come to really value [Writers’ Open Mic] as a space that builds intergenerational relationships,\u201d said Watson. \u201cIt’s an opportunity for people of all these different ages and backgrounds to come together and sit down and actually listen to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key jobs of the Tantramar Poet Laureate is helping with Poetry Month activities every April, including helping organize and judge the municipality\u2019s annual poetry contest, which culminates in an awards event and reading hosted by the municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe poetry contest is a really great project, because it allows us to recognize people for work that often doesn’t get recognized,\u201d said Watson. \u201cBut the downside of it is that there’s always so much great work that doesn’t get seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why in 2024, Watson decided to create a chapbook with works from all contest entrants. \u201cI wanted to do something where we kind of recognize everyone, and we see all this different work side by side, and we get to see the diversity of writing that’s happening in our community,\u201d said Watson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images of the first chapbook produced by Tantramar poet laureate Laura Watson, from presentation to Tantramar Council, Monday May 26, 2025. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Designing and producing the chapbooks is a lot of work, but Watson says she finds it worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it can be really empowering to see your work in print, especially for young people and new writers,\u201d said Watson. \u201cAnd I love that the chapbooks are a kind of record of our communities in this very specific moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copies of the chapbooks for 2024 and 2025 are in the provincial library system, \u201cthanks to the local librarians\u201d, said Watson. \u201cSo that record is there and available for anyone who wants to find it for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copies of the 2025 chapbook are available at Sackville and Dorchester public libraries, while supplies last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chapbooks are Watson\u2019s \u2018legacy project\u2019 as Tantramar Poet Laureate, and if council approves, they are a project she could continue for another three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in the meeting on Monday, council heard Active Living director Matt Pryde recommend that council renew Watson\u2019s term as Poet Laureate, meaning she can continue in the position for another three years, until June 2028. Pryde also asked councillors to adopt the former Sackville Poet Laureate terms of reference as a Tantramar-wide policy, including an annual stipend of $2000 for the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council agreed to send the recommendation on to its June 10 meeting under its consent agenda, which means that unless a councillor requests further information or discussion on the issue, Watson\u2019s term as Tantramar poet laureate will likely be renewed until June 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n