Poet and novelist Chloé LaDuchesse was announced as Sudbury's fifth Poet Laureate on Feb. 8.
LaDuchesse has made a quick ascension in Sudbury's literary community, having moved to the Nickel City from Montreal just two years ago when she took a job with Prise de Parole, a local publishing company that publishes Franco-Ontarian literature.
In 2017, LaDuchesse had her first collection of poetry,"Furies" published by Memoire d'encrier. She has also published short stories in Pour se raconter IV, Bref!, and was a semi-finalist in the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize.
The young poet and publisher was selected by a committee that included previous Poet Laureates Kim Fahner, Tom Leduc, and Daniel Aubin, along with Dieter Buse of the Sudbury Arts Council, Nancy Daoust of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and Cynthia Derrenbacker of the Greater Sudbury Public Library Board.
LaDuchesse falls in line with the mandate to rotate between anglophone and francophone Poet Laureates, and while she holds high regard for poetry and literature in her native tongue, she hopes to bring more bilingual poetry events to Greater Sudbury.
"I'm hoping to make the French community more visible, because I feel like everyone does their own thing. I understand that not everybody speaks French and literature is a lot about language," said LaDuchesse.
"Every time I read at English open mics people tell me 'oh, it sounds really good and I understood bits of it' and they seem really interested, so I just think we need to make a connection for the people who have the interest. I'm looking to bilingual events where everyone can express themselves."
Chloé will also be hosting a weekly radio show on CKLU where poets both English and French-speaking are welcome to go on the air and share their work.
Ward 8 coun. Al Sizer attended the announcement on Feb. 8 at the MacKenzie Street Library and congratulated LaDuchesse on being selected as the city's fifth Poet Laureate, while thanking outgoing Poet Laureate Kim Fahner for her work during her term.
"Council has a strategic plan that we use as a guide to decisions that impact our municipality. As we were developing our strategic plan, citizens asked us to strengthen the quality of life they know and love by focusing on and investing in arts, culture, entertainment, and our multi-cultural communities," said Sizer.
"This evening's announcement represents a continued investment in our community's rich culture in music, poetry, and literature."
Visual and performing artist Will Morin was short-listed with LaDuchesse for the position. Greater Sudbury’s first Poet Laureate, Roger Nash, made the announcement.
