poet laureate map of canada;

MEDIA RELEASE
Release date: October ­­­­1, 2008

Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library
Launches Poet Laureate Map of Canada

The Poet Laureate Map of Canada (www.poetrymap.ca) is unique to Canada, and the world! There are literary maps and poet maps, but we haven’t yet found a poet laureate map. Our map features a photo, bio and poem from Canada’s poets laureate, past and present, as well as links, and when available, audio and video files. Quotes, FAQs, and news about poets laureate and poetry also make this site a valuable resource.

A legacy project of Owen Sound’s first Poet Laureate, Liz Zetlin, the web-based Poet Laureate Map of Canada showcases Canada’s poets laureate, municipal, provincial and federal, and provides models for communities that want to create their own poet laureate position.

Liz Zetlin and Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners invited poets laureate and mayors of their host-municipalities to participate. Response has been overwhelming, with nearly 30 poets laureate and 14 host communities listed on the Map.

We thank all those who have worked to make the Poet Laureate Map of Canada come to be a reality, and gratefully acknowledge the City of Owen Sound for funding this initiative. We invite all who view it, use it and learn from it to help the Library improve and update the Poet Laureate Map of Canada. We also invite you to add a link from your website to the map. Your comments are welcome at: library@owensound.library.on.ca

The map is being launched to coincide with National Random Acts of Poetry Week, October 1 to 5. For the past four years, Liz Zetlin has performed random acts in the Owen Sound area, raising the profile of poetry in her community.

The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library is pleased to host this poetry map. We hope that, through the Poet Laureate Map of Canada, poetry continues to take root not only in our homes and hearts, libraries and schools, but begins to flourish in the council chambers and board rooms of the nation.

For more information contact:

Judy Armstrong
Chief Librarian
519-376-6623 x 201

or

Elizabeth Zetlin
Owen Sound Poet Laureate 2007-2008
519-986-4073