Introducing the National Poetry Registry
Welcome to the National Poetry Registry. The National Poetry Registry helps connect Canadian parliamentarians, citizens and poets. Selected by parliamentarians, citizens, and a bibliographer, the poems listed herein refer to Canada’s senatorial regions (e.g., provinces) and federal electoral districts. An author’s actual residency is immaterial: a Toronto-based poet might appear with a poem about Halifax and one about Calgary.
My hope is that Canadians will look up a constituency and discover poets whose work will gain additional relevance via their verses about a place—or places—therein. I also hope to inform parliamentarians about how poets have viewed—or view—a riding and acquaint them with the poets who have lived in or visited their electoral districts.
Two notes: first, the compilation of this website does not represent an exhaustive list of all constituencies and related poets; secondly, due to reasons of copyright, neither whole poems nor excerpts appear here. In closing, I wish to acknowledge here the fine, original research and outreach labour of Dr. Diana Manole, Ph.D., in assembling this group of Canadian poems and poets.
Dr. George Elliott Clarke, O.C., O.N.S., Ph.D.
The 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate (2016-17)
Search the National Poetry Registry
You can search the database for poems that refer to Canada’s provinces or territories (senatorial regions) or for poems that refer to federal electoral districts (constituencies). Please note that not all constituencies are listed.
For regional entries, use the dropdown menu to select a province or territory.
For constituency entries, use the dropdown menu to select a province or territory, then select the constituency name (listed alphabetically).
Choose a province or territory: