Poet Laureate Program

Windsor’s Poet Laureate Program seeks to celebrate the contributions of poets and literary artists to the cultural life of our broader community and to meet the needs of the culturally rich, diverse, and evolving community in Windsor. Through this program, we strive to gather, preserve and share the unique Windsor stories that shape our community, today and into the future.

Creatives Appointed to the Program

Peter Hrastovec serves as the current Poet Laureate for the City of Windsor. This role serves to honour a poet (age 25 years and older) who writes excellent poetry and focuses on themes that are relevant to the people who live in the city of Windsor. This poet serves as an ambassador for the arts, culture and heritage sectors in the city of Windsor and helps to celebrate poetry and the arts — particularly the literary arts. As an ambassador for poetry and literature, the Poet Laureate attends municipal events to share works and raise the profile of the literary arts in Windsor. 

Poets, along with literary artists, performing artists and community storytellers who have worked within the program to date include the following:

• Marty Gervais, 2011 to 2019; as of 2019, Marty Gervais became Windsor's Poet Laureate Emeritus
• Mary Ann Mulhern, 2019–2022
• Samantha Badaoa, 2019–2020
• Vanessa Shields, 2022
• Alex-Andrei (Alexei) Ungurenaşu, 2021–2022
• Theresa Sims, 2022–2024
• Teajai Travis, 2022–2024
• Chidera Ikewibe, 2023–2025
• Theresa Sims, 2022–2024
• Peter Hrastovec, 2023–2027

"Windsor's Voices" 2026 National Poetry Month Initiative

Early in 2026, the City of Windsor’s Poet Laureate Peter Hrastovec re-launched the “Windsor’s Voices” initiative to bring poetry to the community in an innovative way once again as part of National Poetry Month 2026. Windsor poets, writers and photographers of all ages were invited to submit original poems, stories or photos on one of two themes: what Windsor means to you; and "Land & Sea" — the League of Canadian Poets’ 2026 theme for National Poetry Month. Submissions were accepted through March 20, 2026, and resulted in 29 poetry and 18 photo submissions, which have all been included in an online zine collection now launched by the City:

• Windsor's Voices 2026 Zine Collection (full document with images, 276 MB)
• Windsor Voices Collection 2026 (text only)

Again this year, the collection of creative works celebrates neighbourhoods, traditions, landmarks, places, spaces, experiences, thoughts and inspirations that all reflect on what makes Windsor special. The initiative promotes poetry and storytelling, in many forms, to a wide and appreciative audience while strengthening the public’s relationship to poetry and the creative arts. 

Over the course of the spring, printed copies will be available for viewing at Windsor Public Library branches in the community, and selections from some of the pieces will be displayed on televisions at various City facilities for a period.

This initiative ran in 2024 and in 2021/2022, with those projects included further down on this page. 

South Shore Collections Series (2017–2025)

The South Shore Collections series has been presented through the City of Windsor's Poet Laureate Program. These books helped to capture, preserve and share Windsor's stories with the community — one of the primary goals of the program. The collections were available for purchase online, and locally where books are sold, with some copies still remaining available throughout Windsor and Essex County. These collections also included partnerships with community institutions, organizations and artists.

Volume 01 - "Because We Have All Lived Here" (2017). This collection celebrates Windsor’s 125th anniversary, along with the 150th anniversary for Canada and Ontario. Within its pages, a "Group of Seven Poets" honour the five towns on the south shore of the Detroit River as it flows from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, or as we read from Sandwich through Riverside. 

Volume 02 - "A Dance of Self-Isolation: Covid Poems From the Biggest Little City in Canada" (2020). This collection includes poems written by the poets laureate reflecting on and capturing the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, as well as the hopes, dreams, challenges, triumphs and fears of an entire community navigating lockdown and the first glimpses of recovery. 

Volume 03 - "Walk in the Woods: Portrait of the Objiway Prairie Complex" (2021). This collection is an adventure about going out on the best and the worst days of the year and taking a walk in the jigsaw puzzle of the wetlands, forest, savannah, and prairie areas that hug the near edges of Windsor, Ontario. 

Volume 04 - "A Manor of Words: Poetry at the Manor 10th Anniversary Anthology" (2022). Poetry at Willistead Manor is one of the most unique poetry events in Canada. Held in the former mansion that belonged to the son of the legendary whisky baron Hiram Walker, it grew into one of the most popular literary events in Canada over the course of a decade. The poets were drawn to the stage here from all over the country, and represent what poet Bruce Meyer described as a "creative zeitgeist that has finally found its voice in Canada." This anthology celebrates 10 years of readings in the old manor that sits in the midst of historic Walkerville, with works from 36 poets laureate from across the country. 

Volume 05 - "In the Middle Space - Windsor's Public Art" (2023). This unique anthology explores Windsor's rich public art culture through poetry. Thirteen authors from various backgrounds all come together to celebrate public art by way of sharing their stories. The book is composed of fifty poems that celebrate the city's public art through storytelling. 

Volume 06 - "Where The Map Begins - Windsor Through Poetry" (2024). This innovative collection features work by fourteen poets, each hailing from one of Windsor's ten wards. With a focus on history, memory, and identity, the collection explores what it means to be from Windsor and honours the landmarks, neighbourhoods, and individuals that make up the story of the city. 

Volume 07 - “And the River, too” (2025). This book features pictures and poems of the South Shore. Dive into a world of stunning photography provided by Marty Gervais and poetry inspired by the South Shore by Windsor’s own residents Kim Fahner, Peter Hrastovec, John B. Lee, Micheline Maylor, and Teajai Travis.

Funding Opportunities for Poets, Literary and Performing Artists and Storytellers

While the Poet Laureate Program appoints individuals to represent the community for a set period, the City of Windsor provides opportunities for additional funding and engagement for many poets, literary and performing artists, and storytellers through the Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund (ACHF) grant program. Since the launch of the ACHF in 2014, over $1.2 million has been awarded to over 500 individual projects, including many projects and initiatives in the literary and performing arts. The ACHF, approved by City Council, awards grants to individuals and cultural organizations to help stimulate creative and economic growth. To learn more about the fund, visit www.ACHFWindsor.ca.

Invite the Poet Laureate

To invite Windsor's Poet Laureate to attend and participate in an event, please contact culturalaffairs@citywindsor.ca by email. Our Poet Laureate may choose to prepare a new poem or presentation or read from existing works as part of your event. All requests are submitted to the Poet Laureate to decide which events they are able to attend, and any reading or presentation fees that may apply.

Past "Windsor's Voices" Initiatives

Windsor's Voices 2024 Zine Collection: The City of Windsor’s Poet Laureate & Storytellers team launched "Windsor's Voices - A National Poetry Month Collection Celebrating Windsor and Weather" in April 2024. The collection comes after a 2023 call for Windsor poets, storytellers, writers and photographers of all ages to submit original poems, stories or photos on one of two themes: what Windsor means to you; and 'weather' - the League of Canadian Poets' 2024 theme for National Poetry Month. 

• Windsor's Voices 2024 Zine/Collection (full document with images, 122 MB)
• Windsor's Voices 2024 Zine/Collection (text only)  

Submissions were accepted from December 18, 2023 to February 16, 2024. Following a review by the team, 38 poems, 7 stories/reflections, 17 photos, and 1 artwork were selected for inclusion. This collection of creative works celebrates neighbourhoods, events, traditions, landmarks, places, spaces, experiences, thoughts and inspirations that all reflect on what makes Windsor special. Through this initiative, the team delivers on the goals of the program, which include promoting poetry and storytelling, in many forms, to a wide and appreciative audience while strengthening the public’s relationship to poetry, storytelling and the creative arts.

Over the course of the spring, printed copies will be made available for Windsor Public Library branches in the community, and selections from some of the pieces will be displayed on televisions at various community centres and City facilities for a period of time. In addition to publication in the Zine/Collection, participating creatives will receive a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Windsor.

Windsor's Voices 2021/2022: In 2021/2022, a similar initiative focused on the theme of “resilience” saw poems printed and displayed in City facilities, mass vaccination sites, and hospital sites across the community to bring messages of hope during the pandemic. 

In honour of National Poetry Month 2021, Windsor’s Poet Laureate Emeritus Marty Gervais and Poet Laureate Mary Ann Mulhern set out to bring poetry to the Windsor community in an innovative way. 'Windsor’s Resilient Voices' places short inspirational poems on interior advertisement spaces across the Transit Windsor fleet of buses, on social media, and throughout select facilities including the WFCU Centre vaccination clinic, Windsor Hall vaccination clinic, St. Clair College vaccination clinic, and Windsor Regional Hospital sites.

• Read the poems.

The poems, written and submitted by area poets, including youth, focus on the theme of 'resilience'.

"I’m proud of this initiative and grateful to the poets who reached out to share their words at this time," said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. "This gets poetry out into the community at a time when small acts of kindness and inspiration can help us face the challenges of COVID-19."

Gervais added, "Resilience is what this town knows best. Time after time we have been through life-changing moments, and we have always bounced back. That is our character, and for the past year, we have shown how, in spite of the challenges and setbacks, we are pushing back; we are lifting ourselves up; we are resilient as we always have been. We will make a difference to the generations to come."

Mulhern believes poetry connects people all across our community throughout the pandemic. "These poems present another way to help us pause and reflect not only on all we’re facing together but on the strength, spirit and resiliency that’s helping lead us through."

Tyson Cragg, Transit Windsor's executive director, welcomed the initiative, saying, "Transit Windsor is delighted to participate in 'Windsor’s Resilient Voices'. It gives us great pleasure to see the mingling of arts and culture with public transit, and I hope that these messages provide hope and uplift people’s spirits in these difficult times."