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Shauntay Grant is a Nova Scotian writer, spoken word performer, musician, and broadcast journalist. She has shared her vibrant blend of poetry and music internationally at festivals and events. more...
Upcoming Performances:
When Sisters Speak
January 16, 2010
8 p.m.
Toronto Centre For The Arts (5040 Yonge St. at Sheppard)
Toronto, Ontario
African Heritage Month Provincial Launch
January 27, 2010
11:30 a.m.
Province House (1726 Hollis St.)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Noches de Poesia
February 2, 2010
Depanneur Café (206 Bernard St. West)
5:30 p.m.
Montreal, Quebec
Wordrhythm
(CD Launch & Live Performance)
February 11, 2010
8 p.m.
The Music Room (6181 Lady Hammond Rd.)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Toronto Poetry Slam
February 19, 2010
8 p.m.
Drake Hotel Underground (115 Queen St. West)
Toronto, Ontario
Vancouver Poetry Slam
March 8, 2010
9 p.m.
Café Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive)
Vancouver, BC
Tree Of Life
(A concert presented by Camerata XARA Young Women's Choir)
March 22, 2010
7:30 pm
St. Matthew's Church (1479 Barrington Street)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Hackmatack Author Readings
May 10-13, 2010
**Shauntay’s award-winning childhood poetic memoire Up Home is a finalist for the 2010 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Awards. http://www.hackmatack.ca/
Write Here! Write Now! Young Writers' Summer Program
July 19-23, 2010
Tatamagouche Centre
Tatamagouche, NS
Read By The Sea
July 24, 2010
9 a.m.
River John Consolidated School
River John, NS
BIO
Shauntay regularly conducts writing, performance, and choral music workshops for schools and community groups. Her original works of poetry and music have been featured nationally on CBC Radio, CBC Television and Vision Television.
Her first children's book, Up Home (2008, Nimbus Publishing) received two Atlantic Book Awards for Best Atlantic Published Book and the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. Up Home is also shortlisted for the 2010 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Awards.
Shauntay is involved with several arts organizations. She's served as a board member for the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia, the Lieutenant Governor's Arts Awards Foundation, and the Nova Scotia Choral Federation. She is also a founder of Word Iz Bond Spoken Word Artists' Collective.
Shauntay directed the 4th annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW), which took place October 2007 in Halifax. She was a member of the 2008 Halifax Slam Team that won first place honours at the CFSW National Poetry Slam in Calgary (November 2008).
Shauntay hosted the 2008 and 2009 CBC National Poetry Face-Off. She is the host of All the Best, a music program that airs weekly on CBC Radio One in the Maritimes.
For more information on the Poet Laureate program, please contact:
Colleen Connolly, Event Technician
Community Relations & Cultural Affairs
P.O. Box 1749
Halifax, N.S.
B3J 3A5
(902) 490-5739
connolc@halifax.ca
About the Mayor's Poet Laureate Program
Introduction
 The Halifax Regional Municipality defines a Poet Laureate as a resident poet or spoken word artist who has achieved excellence and whose work is of relevance to the citizens of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The appointee will serve as an advocate for literary arts and reflect the life of our community through program development and community outreach.
Candidacy
Candidates must have resided in the Halifax Regional Municipality for two continuous years previous to the appointment.
Candidates must be professionally published according to one or more of the following criteria:
- a trade book or chapbook;
- sufficient audio recording or broadcasting or spoken word performance or public distribution (tapes, videos, CDs, and/or tapes, videos, CDs);
- sufficient print publications in recognized literary journals, anthologies, or periodicals;
- publication in any form which, in the opinion of the committee, is of sufficient poetic achievement to merit consideration.
Candidates will have made a significant contribution to poetry or spoken word and the literary life of HRM.
Candidates must be prepared to accept the responsibilities of the position and be accustomed to citizen engagement and community outreach.
Responsibilities
As an advocate for poetry, language and the arts, the Poet Laureate will attend events across the municipality to promote and attract people to the literary world.
With the assistance of HRM Cultural Affairs staff, the Poet Laureate will engage the community in activities, programs and events that demonstrate the positive impact of literature, poetry, and spoken word.
The Poet Laureate's mandate also includes the creation of a legacy project that will be unique to the individual.
Staff Support and Resources
HRM staff will administer the position by providing support, such as business cards, information on the HRM website, program materials, and other items as eeded.
Award
The Poet Laureate will receive an honorarium of $3,700 for an 18-month term. The position will be held by an individual who is chosen from the community by a Selection Committee of qualified citizens.
The Selection Committee will be made up of:
- The current Poet Laureate
- One representative of HRM Cultural Affairs
- The honorable Mayor Peter Kelly
- A representative from the Office of Mayor Peter Kelly
- Two representatives from the literary arts community
Nomination Process
Any eligible poet or spoken word artist may be nominated or may nominate himself or herself. Nominators should inform the poet of their intention.
The application must include the following material:
- Resume and cover letter listing the poet’s eligibility
- One page document outlining goals for the two year term as Poet Laureate
- 3 examples of published work (written or audio), including recent work. (for written work this can include a book or 20 pages of recent poetry; for spoken word, a CD or recent recording)
Past Poet Laureates
Lorri Neilsen Glenn
 HRM Poet Laureate 2005-2008
Lorri officially took the reins from inaugural Poet Laureate Sue MacLeod on April 29, 2005 at the Atlantic Book Awards event in Dartmouth.
Learn more about Lorri
Visit Lorri's web page
Sue MacLeod
HRM Poet Laureate 2001-200 5
In 2001, the amalgamated HRM became the third municipality in Canada to establish a Poet Laureate. Sue MacLeod was honoured as our first laureate.
Visit Sue's web page
Learn about the Legacy Project of HRM's First Poet Laureate
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