Louise Bernice Halfe /Sky Dancer, Canadian Poet Laureate

 
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The Canadian Press · Posted: Feb 06, 2021

Renowned writer Louise Bernice Halfe, also known by the Cree name Sky Dancer, has been named Canada's new parliamentary poet laureate.

Halfe, who was raised on Saddle Lake Reserve and attended Blue Quills Residential School in central Alberta, is the ninth poet to hold the position.

She is the first to hail from an Indigenous community.

"Being selected as the poet for Parliament is, in fact, a process of reconciliation," Halfe said in an interview on CBC Radio's The House. "It's a step forward for sure. There is no doubt about that."

Halfe said her work is about "recording the history" of her personal experiences and those of her family and community. 

"I'm sharing it from ... a very deep perspective," she said. "I'm not sterilizing the situation."

 
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