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As the city's newest Poet Laureate, , PhD, is an ambassador of the arts.

Established in 2011, the ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Poet Laureate produces literary work that is reflective of the city’s landscape, cityscape and civic identity, and that may raise awareness of local issues. 

Joseph, a professor of English in the at the University of ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù, was named to the position on April 28 as the eighth Poet Laureate. She has published three collections of poetry and three scholarly books to date. She recently talked with UToday about this exciting new role. 

What are your plans as the new ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Poet Laureate?

I’m envisioning a series of poetry gatherings focused on listening. Listening to one another, to place, to memory, and to the many different histories and languages that make up ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù. I hope to work with libraries, universities, and community spaces because these are already places of learning and public encounter. The gatherings would invite people to experience poetry as something close to ordinary life, not distant or intimidating. Of course, the role also includes civic poems, public readings, and community requests, but the broader project I hope to develop is a widening circle of shared attention where poetry helps the city listen to itself more deeply. 

What drew you into writing and studying poetry?

My earliest memory of writing something like a poem goes back to Grade 2 or Grade 3 in India. As part of a Catechism class, we were taken out to the school garden and asked to write a little story about any of the flowers or plants around us, and I chose a dahlia, but what came out was not a story, but more of a poem. In Grade 8, on the way back from a school trip in Kerala, India, I wrote another poem on the bus, still carrying with me the beauty of the hills, forests, and waters we had passed through. Many years later in Toronto, I began writing poetry again and had some of those early poems published. When I became an academic, I thought I’d have to choose critical scholarship over creative writing, but eventually I realized poetry could think and engage difficult philosophical and theoretical ideas. Poetry has been with me in different ways since childhood. It began by accident, but it has carried me into teaching, mentoring, publishing, reading with communities, and now into this new role as ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Poet Laureate.

From your perspective, why should someone read or write poetry?

Poetry matters in our life because cities are not made only of roads, buildings, budgets, and policies. They are made of people, memory, grief, joy, loneliness, uncertainty, faith, and hope, and poetry gives us a way to attend to those dimensions of public life. 

My advice to emerging writers or students would be to write and pay attention to the kind of person you are becoming because what we write is connected to how we see, listen and live. For emerging writers and students, I think it is important to read widely, observe carefully, and take quiet time. Do not rush too quickly to fill the page. Notice people, places, gestures, silences, and small acts of care, these are usually overlooked. Practise discernment; choose words and subjects carefully. Ask yourself not only what you want to say, but also what kind of attention does this subject require of me? Who am I becoming as I write? Writing is not only self-expression, but also a way of learning how to be more attentive and more responsible in the world.

What does it mean to you to be named ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Poet Laureate?

First, I’d say it means gratitude, and I am very honoured and very happy to take on the role. In the week or so since the appointment, I’ve begun to feel the responsibility of it more deeply. For me, it’s not just a recognition of my own work as a poet, it’s also a recognition of poetry itself and what it can do in public life. It means a great deal personally, to my family, friends, readers and publishers, but I’m also now asking myself how this position can serve ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù through me. That question is beginning to shape my schedule, my thinking and my sense of responsibility. I receive the role with joy, and the hope that I can serve the city well through it.