Rhyme and reason are leading to a bigger budget for Barrie’s poet laureate.
Councillors gave initial approval Wednesday night to a motion increasing the position’s total yearly expenditure to $4,250 from $1,000. The poet laureate’s term would also be reduced to two years, from four years, beginning in 2026.
City council could give final approval to these changes at its March 27 meeting.
The motion also involves having three city councillors replace a chief librarian, or library CEO, the poet laureate from another community and a municipal culture staffer, on Barrie’s poet laureate selection committee.
Coun. Amy Courser has a problem with these changes.
“It is a rare city councillor indeed that is qualified to choose a poet laureate,” she said. “I think that it may be best that we leave the adjudication of the poet laureate to literary and artistic professionals.”
Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl wanted to take a closer look at the process.
“I don’t necessarily favour having three members of council on this particular committee,” she said. “I would love to get some feedback (from the current selection committee members) before we make a change to (the selection committee’s) composition.
“I feel when we’re taking away members of the public from something that is in the public interest, we’re also losing voices that have been involved," Kungl added.
But a majority of councillors voted for the change.
“We do still have the current poet laureate who is on the selection committee,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson.
Mayor Alex Nuttall said this council contains a diverse set of individuals who are qualified to help choose a poet laureate.
“While I respect the idea of those who are part of writing poetry or part of the arts community making decisions,” he said, “I also respect the idea that everyone’s been elected by the people, for the people and we understand our community.
“I think that we are qualified on behalf of the community to make this decision," the mayor added.
The budget increase would involve hiking the poet laureate’s annual stipend to $2,500 from $1,000, and an additional $1,500 per year for poetry events or projects to be co-ordinated and led by the poet laureate and pre-approved by the city’s economic and creative development department, aligned with its goals and those of council. Eligible and pre-approved expenses would be reimbursed through the department.
There would also be as much as $250 annually in travel expenses related to kilometre reimbursement, at the city rate.
City staff have compared Barrie’s poet laureate spending with the similar and nearby municipalities of Collingwood, Kingston, Mississauga and Windsor, determining the annual poet laureate stipend ranges from $2,350 to $5,000 — although each of those programs have additional roles and responsibilities beyond Barrie’s current program.
Common program expectations for the poet laureate are creating new, original works of one to four poems about Barrie that can be used as the city sees fit, developing and delivering poetry workshops, developing a legacy project during their term and hosting literary events.
The poet laureate is also required to appear at key city events and celebrations, with a minimum of three, at the Barrie Arts Awards, National Poetry Month and Culture Days.
A brief annual report is to be provided at the end of each year, during their term, outlining activities undertaken in the poet laureate role, such as event appearances, workshops and published works.
Barrie’s poet laureate, a position created in 2010, serves as a "literary ambassador and champion for poetry, language and the arts and will by their presence and their public readings deepen the tone and significance of civic occasions."
Their role is writing, publishing and performing poetry, educating the public on the value of poetry and the literary arts, encouraging and celebrating other local poets and writers, and promoting literacy in all age groups.
Nominations are received every four years for the poet laureate, and the outgoing poet laureate is to participate in that nomination or selection.
Bruce Meyer was Barrie’s first poet laureate, followed by Damian Lopes, Victoria Butler and Tyneisha Thomas, Barrie’s poet laureate for 2022-26.
