Making a poet laureate cool

I don't know about you, but I was certainly excited this week when the City of Edmonton named Roland Pemberton - aka the incomparable Cadence Weapon - as their new poet laureate. His Afterparty Babies and Breaking Kayfabe albums are in heavy rotation on my iPod.

He is a fantastic choice because much of his music is ABOUT his experiences living in Edmonton. (His song Oliver Square is a personal favourite of mine.)

That got me thinking about who Calgary could have as our poet laureate. If we even had a poet laureate. So, props to @AvenueMagazine for turning me on to Dragon Fli Empire. After listening to their songs "Mount Pleasant" and "CGY" I'm sold. They would be a great fit.

But I can't do much about the poet laureate gig but I can buy their albums and put them in rotation on the iPod too. Done.

I'll through out the call for a Calgary poet laureate again though. (Regardless of who you think would be a good fit for the job.) This was floated by Council last year and didn't gain any traction. I imagine the number one reason was because people felt the $5,000 honorarium for a two year commitment and a minimum 6 poems was too much.

But look at how much attention Cadence Weapon is getting Edmonton? I'd guess any tourism agency would kill for that kind of play over that long of a time for a miniscule $5k investment.