Penn Kemp named First Poet Laureate of London

My first meeting with Poet Laureate Penn Kemp

Congratulations to Penn Kemp on being chosen the First Poet Laureate of London: Canada's most distinguished sound poet, & essayist, playwright, and the most recognizable name in the participatory poetry movement. I've already praised her work here as the poet of the "dithyrambic, lyrical and elegiac", qualities to be found in written, performed or recorded forms.

I met Penn for the first time in August, 2009 at the "The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre" in London at a performance of the "Summer Soirée Festival Event" and enjoyed her seasonal song cycle of ecco poetry, her lyrics wonderfully adapted to music and dance. Both event and venue represented for me the very finest in sound opera, interpretive dance and chant. Poetry of sound, movement and music, all marvelously coming together under Penn's masterly control.

Penn is an elegant spokesperson for poetry and the type of poetry community she's worked tirelessly all her life to nourish and develop. I fully expect the Inaugural Poet Laureate distinction to lead one day soon to that a Governor-General award in recognition of her even more significant contributions at a national level as writer-in-residence, literary ambassador for Canada and contributor to a 30-year history of avant-garde poetry.

I am particularly happy for her because she's also been the voice of encouragement and support: in fact, one of the few editors to publish my own poetry. I can't recall the number of times she's contacted me with information about her projects and upcoming Pendas and Gathering Voices events. Always welcoming, always positive. Penn stands, in fact, among a group of exceptional poet-activists I've been privileged to meet over the years, people like Margot Van Sluytman and Katherine L. Gordon who are to me poetic visionaries. But this is Penn's moment, and to her I dedicate this humble blog post.