At the age of 28, Kyla Heyming is Greater Sudbury’s youngest-ever poet laureate.
“That's pretty incredible to be selected as the youngest poet laureate,” said Heyming, speaking with Sudbury.com April 29 at a press conference where it was revealed she is Greater Sudbury’s seventh poet laureate.
“I’m hoping that in itself will kind of open up the role to a whole new age demographic, and encourage younger people also to get involved and not have to wait, and write and love poetry as much as I did.”
Greater Sudbury’s inaugural poet laureate, Roger Nash, who introduced Heyming at the press conference, joked he’s the city’s oldest former poet laureate, while Heyming is young enough to be his granddaughter.
“So you see how inclusive we are,” he said.
Heyming said when she found out she’d been selected for the role, she was in the car with her mom.
“I had to make her park so we could have like a good little freakout session together,” said Heyming, adding that she’s “overjoyed” to have been selected.
Although young, Heyming - who will receive an honorarium of $1,000 for her two-year term as poet laureate - is already accomplished in her craft. The Onaping resident’s poetry and non-fiction have appeared in a number of arts and literature journals.
She is the author of "For Those I Have Loved," her first poetry collection published by HARP Publishing: The People's Press, and her poem "Poet" was featured in the League of Canadian Poets' "Poetry Pause.”
“Poetry for me has always been about more than just words,” said Heyming. “It has been about putting emotions and moments and memories into the most meaningful words.”
Heyming is fluently bilingual. During the press conference, Heyming shared three poems - one in English, one in French and another written both in English and French.
You can read one of the poems she shared, entitled “No Ordinary Place,” below this article.
During her two-year term as poet laureate, Heyming will lead virtual and in-person workshops and events devoted to the writing of poetry.
She plans to gather engaging content and experiences, in English and French, to help inspire the community to read, recite and write poetry.
“As laureate, I want to be someone that's bilingual, and hybrid by being available en francais and in English, and both in person and virtually,” Heyming told those gathered at the press conference. “I hope that my position, my legacy, and my project will be more accessible to a larger number of people.”
Heyming will also contribute to terra north/nord, the e-zine created by Nash during his term as poet laureate.
The new poet laureate said she also hopes to create video content of readings and workshops that can be used by not only readers and poets, but as pedagogical resources for teachers.
“One of the things I learned growing up was that as much as poetry sometimes can be fun, not everyone likes learning it, not everyone likes teaching it,” Heyming said. “So I want to bring a new kind of renewed sense of life into it.”
The April 29 press conference was attended by three other past Greater Sudbury poet laureates - Nash, who served from 2010-2012, as well as 2018-2020 poet laureate Chloe LaDuchesse, and 2020-2022 poet laureate Vera Constantineau.
Other past poet laureates include Daniel Aubin (2012-2014), Thomas Leduc (2014-2016) and Kim Fahner (2016-2018).
Constantineau began her term as Greater Sudbury poet laureate in March 2020, right before the beginning of the pandemic.
“I was faced with COVID,” she said. “Let me tell you, when I realized that everything I did was going to have to be done on Zoom, I was both overjoyed and really shaken by it.”
She said she wanted to have the option to “leave and go places” during her term. Constantineau, who has a physical disability, had also wanted to raise accessibility issues as part of her role.
But she said the pandemic had the effect of putting everyone in the same boat. “No one could go anywhere,” Constantineau said. “We were all the same, which I hope never goes away.”
Mayor Brian Bigger attended the event, congratulating and giving a warm welcome to Heyming as Greater Sudbury’s seventh poet laureate.
He said the idea of Greater Sudbury having a poet laureate was brought about during the term of one of his predecessors as mayor, the late John Rodriguez. He thanked Rodriguez for identifying Nash as the city’s first poet laureate.
“For 12 years, the portfolio has strengthened our community vibrancy and supported the artistic and cultural and creative expression of local citizens and groups,” Bigger said.
No Ordinary Place
By Kyla Heyming
This was no ordinary place.
It had a strange pull
and a strange hold
on those who were born to it,
and on those who thought
to call it home.
Built on the desolation
that came before it,
its progress can be tracked
through the black rocks, dull
nickel and new trees.
The breeze billows clouds
of smoke from the large stacks
that act like markers mapping
the way back. We know
where we are
because we seldom leave.
And those who do
often come back.
This strange place is able
to make you feel so lost
among the generations
of men and women
who choose to spend their days
working under the very ground
they’ve built their lives upon.
And yet, it’s the only place
where I’ve truly ever found myself.
I’ve spent years roaming
other countrysides in the hopes
of finding what I’ve only ever felt here.
This is no ordinary place, and I
have faith that it will keep me.
