Calgary Poet Laureate
Kris Demeanor Announced as Calgary Poet Laureate
Calgary Arts Development and the Calgary Poet Laureate Selection Committee are pleased to announce the appointment of Kris Demeanor as Calgary's inaugural Poet Laureate.
Kris Demeanor is a multidisciplinary artist who has become a fixture of Calgary's spoken word, theatre and music communities. In words from a nomination letter, Kris is "a skilled, passionate and keenly insightful artist whose work is both accessible and deeply committed to an honest expression of what it is to be Calgarian."
Demeanor, a native Calgarian, reflects on how Calgary has contributed to his role as an artist and Poet Laureate.
"My mom and dad's families came to Calgary in the 1950s intoxicated by the classic frontier dreams of boundless opportunity and big nature. I'm a fortunate son of those fulfilled promises, and have had a lifelong centre line seat to Calgary's evolution into a bundle of wild contradictions, alternately inspiring and confounding, an over-indulged child with flashes of old wisdom and visionary plans."
"I am delighted and humbled to have been enlisted to articulate the Calgary experience through language over the next two years, and will do so with a solid balance of humour, history, gravitas, celebration, critique and raw entertainment value. I look forward to being your mirror."
Calgary’s Poet Laureate will compose and present poetry for official City of Calgary occasions, raise awareness of local issues through commissioned works and act as an ambassador for the arts in Calgary.
Members of the volunteer selection committee were on hand as Alderman Druh Farrell, who championed a motion to establish the position, announced Kris Demeanor as the Poet Laureate on Monday, March 19th at City Council. Following the announcement, Demeanor performed his first official duty as as Calgary Poet Laureate, presenting in Council Chamber as part of a nationwide "Mayor's Poetry Challenge."
Kerry Longpré, chair of the Selection Committee, acknowledges that the selection process was a difficult one due to the high caliber of the nominations received. "Calgary's poetry community is vibrant and thriving, as evidenced by the 14 nominations we received and the diversity of the short list. In choosing to appoint Calgary's Poet Laureate, one of our considerations was 'How do we connect to Calgarians and introduce them to poetry in a way that is new and surprising?' Kris is a highly talented artist who has a tremendous gift for storytelling. His poetry reflects what it means to be Calgarian in a way that is both accessible and recognizable to Calgarians from all walks of life."
The appointment of Calgary's first Poet Laureate comes after a unique 5-month selection process, which included a public call for nominations and a sold-out Poet Laureate Showcase. The showcase was a dynamic public event that featured the short list of six nominees in an evening of poetry and conversation celebrating the vitality and diversity of Calgary's poetry community.
The vibrancy of the community did not go unnoticed by Demeanor, saying, "I give a deep bow to my fellow shortlisted nominees, Derek Beaulieu, Sheri-D Wilson, Daniel Bennett (Transit), Diane Guichon and Tyler Perry. The depth of their commitment to this city will be my metre stick."
The Calgary Poet Laureate is funded by Poet Laureate Ambassadors: The Calgary Foundation, Calgary Chamber of Commerce, First Calgary Financial, FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Hotel Arts, TransCanada and an anonymous supporter.
Hashtag: #yycpoet
Read the Poet Laureate Backgrounder.
Kris Demeanor - Calgary Poet Laureate
Calgary-born songwriter Kris Demeanor delights in exposing the underbelly of western Canadian culture - gambling, drug use, murder, religion, the suburbs. His numerous CDs of original work explore the darkness and absurdity of these corner of Alberta life.
While Kris' music has taken him around the world performing, he has become a fixture of Calgary's spoken word, theatre and music communtites, creating music and lyrics for numerous award-winning projects.
Career highlights include taking the award-winning short film based on his song "I Have Seen the Future" to the Sundance and Toronto film festivals, collaborating with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on the 2011 event "Acres of Dreams," and sharing a beer with David Byrne.
In addition to his musical work he writes extensively. Kris' work has appeared in magazines like Alberta Views and Canadian Geographic. In 2009 he was awarded the Best New Magazine Writer Award for his feature piece 'Get a Real Job' in Unlimited. He performs regularly at the Banff/Calgary WordFest and the Calgary Spoken Word Festival.
Send a message to Kris Demeanor
Kris Demeanor's Music/Spoken Word Recordings
Tinderbox, No, Really, Let Go' (1998)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'Kris Demeanor' (2000)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'Lark' (2002)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'Party All Night' (2004)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'Go Away (With Me)' (2007)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'The Guilt and the Shame - Tales of the Canadian West' (2007)
Kris Demeanor and his Crack Band, 'These United States' (2009)
Cutest Kitten Ever, 'Go Down Shooting' (2011)
Poet Laureate Events
Alberta Theatre Projects 2012/13 Season Sneak-a-Peak
Thursday, May 31, 2012
5:30pm
Martha Cohen Theatre, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts
Calgary Public Library 100th Anniversary Reading
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Louise Riley Library, Lion's Park
The Walrus Glenbow Debate - Calgary's Cowboy Culture: Living Legacy or Just History?
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Max Bell Theatre, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $20
Join some of Calgary's top thinkers for a lively debate on how Calgary's rich past relates to the present, our future and what it means to be Calgarian. Featuring Carol Off, Chris Turner, Chima Nkemdirim, Joan Crockatt and Mercedes Stephenson, with provocaeurs including Aritha Van Herk, Kris Demeanor, Deanne Carson, Terry Rock and more.
About the Calgary Poet Laureate
Historically, a Poet Laureate served as the official chronicler of state events and occasions. More currently, the role of a Poet Laureate has been to reflect the life of a city through presentations of poetry. As an ambassador of the literary arts, the Laureate incorporates poetry into a range of official and informal city activities.
The Calgary Poet Laureate will compose and present poetry for official City of Calgary occasions, raise awareness of local issues through commissioned works and act as an ambassador for the arts in Calgary.
Calgary City Council approved a motion establishing a Poet Laureate for the city in July 2011. Calgary Arts Development will administer the program in conjunction with a volunteer selection committee. The Poet Laureate is funded by the Poet Laureate Ambassadors.
To learn more about the Calgary Poet Laureate selection process, please read the Calgary Poet Laureate Guidelines.
For more information on Calgary's Poet Laureate, contact Emiko Muraki at Emiko.Muraki@CalgaryArtsDevelopment.com.
Poet Laureate Ambassadors:
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