Writing grad Kyeren Regehr is Victoria’s newest Poet Laureate

Once again, the City of Victoria’s Poet Laureate position has gone to a Department of Writing alumni.
Writing grad Kyeren Regehr was recently appointed as the City of Victoria’s latest Poet Laureate. Regehr (MFA ’13, BFA ’11 + a Fine Arts Victoria Medal recipient) is an award-winning literary poet and the current artistic director of Planet Earth Poetry, one of Canada’s longest-running weekly reading series. She will serve her term beginning April 2025 and, in addition to curating community events, she will also be hosting The Poet Laureate Podcast.
“I’m honoured to serve as Victoria’s seventh Poet Laureate on lək̓ʷəŋən homelands and look forward to deepening our connection to poetry and one another,” she says.
Kyeren follows in the literary footsteps of previous Poet Laureates John Barton and Carla Funk (plus UVic grad Yvonne Blomer), making our grads three of the seven Poet Laureates since the position was created in 2006. Writing can also boast of having four previous Youth Poet Laureates among the 11 youth who have held the position: Eva Haas, Eli Mushumanski, K.P. Dennis and Aysia Law. (Shauntelle Dick-Charleson is the newest Youth Poet Laureate.)
Regehr is an award-winning poet, writer and the author of Cult Life, which was a finalist for the national ReLit Awards and Victoria’s own Butler Book Prize; her Disassembling A Dancer won the inaugural Raven Chapbooks contest. Her poetry has appeared in top literary journals and anthologies across Canada, Australia and the US, and she has won or been shortlisted for more than two dozen literary contests.
Beyond the page, Regehr’s background in professional dance and theatre gives her poetry an unmistakable rhythm. She once found herself in the finals of the Victoria Poetry Slam completely by accident after encouraging her students to perform. Now, as Artistic Director of Planet Earth Poetry, she continues to champion the literary arts
“We’re delighted to have the talents of Kyeren and Shauntelle representing the City as Poet Laureates,” says Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto. “I look forward to seeing their work inspire and connect residents of all ages through the power of poetry.”