The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is delighted to announce that dee Hobsbawn-Smith will be the 10th Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan. Her term will begin August 1, 2023, and run until July 31, 2025.
The Saskatchewan Poet Laureate celebrates Saskatchewan—its people, spirit, land—through the literary arts, and acts as an ambassador and champion of poetry and writing. The Poet’s commitment to writing, passion for poetry, and community engagement through her position will raise awareness of the power of poetry and engage all residents in the written and spoken word.
dee Hobsbawn-Smith’s award-winning poetry, essays, fiction, and journalism are at times influenced by her career in the food industry as a Red Seal chef, educator, Slow Food member and locavore advocate. Her work has appeared in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, websites, on the airwaves, and in numerous anthologies in Canada, the USA, and Scotland. Her literary books include two poetry collections: Wildness Rushing In (finalist, SK Book Awards Poetry Award and finalist, Book of the Year); and Among the Untamed; a short story collection, What Can’t Be Undone; a novel, Danceland Diary (finalist, SK Book Awards Fiction Award); a chapbook, Jeanne Dark comes of age on the prairie; Bread & Water: essays, winner of the SK Book Awards Nonfiction Award, and Taste Canada’s Gold Medal for Culinary Narrative.
She recently completed her second essay collection. Her third poetry collection is looking for a home with several Canadian publishers. She’s at work on a novel and a work of nonfiction.
dee’s also written five bestselling Canadian food books, three of which are cookbooks, plus a culinary resource book, and Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet, winner of the Gourmand World Cookbooks Awards in Canada; Best Culinary Book at the High Plains Book Awards; and 3rd prize from Les Dames D’Escoffier M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing. Slow Food Canada has named her a Slow Food Hero. She has served on literary and culinary juries in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Poet Laureate selection jury noted dee has a notable history of involvement in the literary life of Saskatchewan as a mentor, a teacher, an editor, and a writer-in-resident. She’s been a public speaker, a performer and a long-time chef and local foods advocate. Her impressive publishing record includes not only poetry, but short stories, a novel, nonfiction, and food books. She is an experienced and generous writer with boundless energy and her experience as a chef and food writer will offer a unique perspective as Saskatchewan’s newest Poet Laureate. With her belief in the “common language of poetry” and her infectious enthusiasm at the prospect of propagating the possibilities of poetry so that it can “work magic” on as many people in this province as possible, dee will be an outstanding poetry ambassador.
Lauren Klassen will continue her term as Youth Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan until July 31, 2024.
Previous Poet Laureates include Glen Sorestad (2000-2004), Louise B. Halfe (2005-2006), Robert Currie (2007-2010), Donald Kerr (2010-2012), Judith Krause (2013-2015), Gerald Hill (2016), Brenda Schmidt (2017-2018) Bruce Rice (2019-2021) and Carol Rose GoldenEagle (2021-2023). Previous Youth Poet Laureates include Alasdair Rees (2019-2020) and Peace Akintade (2020-2021), Warsha Kashan (2021-2022) and Lauren Klassen (2022-present).
Commencing in 2000, the Saskatchewan Poet Laureate Program was the first provincial program of its kind in Canada. The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild redesigned the program in 2019 to continue the tradition of honouring Saskatchewan poets and the poetry community while adding the Youth Poet Laureate position and exciting new community engagement opportunities. The Poets Laureate are under the patronage of the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, His Honour the Honourable Russ Mirasty.
For additional Poet Laureate program information or to request a reading or talk with our Poet Laureate, visit: https://skwriter.com/programs-and-services/poet-laureate-program
To learn more about dee and to hear a reading of her poetry, watch this video: https://youtu.be/6WtOTDVxRjM
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