Calgary names derek beaulieu as poet laureate

Outgoing poet Kris Demeanor presents legacy anthology to council

Image | derek beaulieu

Caption: Calgary's new poet laureate is derek beaulieu, a longtime resident and well-known poet. (Andy Nichols)

Calgary has chosen a new poet laureate and is celebrating his appointment by projecting one of his poems on the Calgary Tower.
A longtime Calgary resident, derek beaulieu — who, like k.d. lang, does not capitalize his name — has published eight books of poetry, three volumes of fiction and one volume of literary criticism.
His poem, Prose of the Trans-Canada, will be projected onto the Calgary Tower during the evenings of April 30 and May 1.
It had been scheduled to be projected on April 28 as well but the Calgary Arts Department says that has been delayed due to technical difficulties.
His appointment by the selection committee was announced at city hall on Monday morning. Outgoing poet laureate Kris Demeanor also presented his legacy anthology to council on Monday. It's called The Calgary Project: A City Map in Verse and Visual.
A $10,000 honorarium is paid per year to the poet laureate, funded by the Calgary Foundation, the Calgary Chamber, First Calgary Financial, FirstEnergy Capital, Transcanada and one anonymous donor.

Image | derek beaulieu/Wordfest

Caption: The poem was projected on the Calgary Tower during Wordfest in 2011. (derek beaulieu/Wordfest)