Surrey’s Poet Laureate is no more,
No rhyme, no stanza, no metaphor;
People protest, city hall says rest,
There’s a library for that and so much more.
OK, maybe this isn’t the world’s greatest limerick, but it begins to tell the story of the Surrey Poet Laureate program, created in 2015.
Fauzia Rafique, among others, wants to know why the program is apparently dead.
She’s a co-ordinator of Surrey Muse Arts Society, an interdisciplinary art and literature group in the city.
“It’s an important program for any city to have, and once we have it we can’t let it go,” Rafique said.
“We need to know the reasons for not continuing the program. The funding is only $10,000 a year to operate this.”
Surrey’s Poet Laureate program was created to “advocate for literacy and the literary arts and to help raise the status of poetry, language, and the arts in the everyday consciousness of Surrey residents,” according to a post on Surrey Libraries’ website.
Renée Sarojini Saklikar was Surrey’s inaugural Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2018. Once her term ended, the sonnets stopped and the program disappeared.
“Some of us have been waiting since 2018 to hear the good news because the funding was approved by the City,” Rafique writes in a detailed blog post. “And though late, Surrey Libraries had issued a call for submissions on May 7, 2019 with a July 2 (deadline) where interviews were to be scheduled in September.
“The interviews did take place,” continued Rafique, an award-winning writer of fiction and poetry.
“What happened after is a mystery.”
Launched in June, an online petition to “Revive Surrey’s Poet Laureate Program” was signed by 273 people and then sent to Mayor Brenda Locke in an email.
In response, the mayor’s office said there are no plans to reinstate the Poet Laureate program in Surrey.
“However,” an administrative co-ordinator wrote in an email to Rafique, “the City is supportive of Surrey’s vibrant literary arts community. Low-cost and free space is available for local writers to gather in our community centres and libraries. Surrey Libraries also offers a variety of programs to support poets and writers.
The programs include writers’ circles, creative writing programs and the Authors Among Us series, the email continued.
“The Library is also exploring a writer/storyteller-in-residence program. Please feel free to contact Chief Librarian Surinder Bhogal for more information on this, and other ways the City can support our literary arts.”
Rafique contends that the Poet Laureate program can’t be replaced by any of those library programs.
“We are in process of drafting a reply,” she said Friday (July 28).
Rafique says Saklikar did “great work” that included the completion of two legacy projects. The first brought 40 teens and seniors together to share their stories and it was published as an anthology in 2016. The second was a series of chapbook writing workshops for 42 teen writers at six libraries.
“I fully support the objectives of the Surrey Poet Laureate program, the arts nonprofit I work for supports it, my friends, peers and colleagues in Surrey’s arts communities support it,” Rafique wrote. “And, we are concerned, to say the least.”
• Meantime, submissions are welcomed until Aug. 15 for the five Surrey Muse Art & Literature Awards, extended to writers, poets, artists and musicians across Canada.
Winners receive $1,000 and opportunities to present work at Surrey Muse gatherings in 2024.
“Last year we received over 300 submissions from 66 different cities in Canada,” noted Samantha Krilow, with the Surrey Muse Awards team.
The categories are Joy Kogawa Award for Fiction, Faith Nolan Award for Music, Susan Crean Award for Nonfiction, Vera Manuel Award for Poetry and Norval Morrisseau Award for Visual Arts. Award and submission details are posted to surreymuseawards.wordpress.com.
• RELATED: Surrey Muse celebrates 10th year with arts awards honouring 5 Canadian ‘miracle makers.’
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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