Poet Jillian Christmas (photo by K.Ho Photography, courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)
Canadian poet and educator Jillian Christmas has been named Vancouver Art Gallery’s first poet in residence.
She will hold the position through spring 2024.
Previously the spoken word curator of the Vancouver Writers Fest and artistic director of Vancouver’s Verses Festival of Words, Christmas is “a queer, Afro-Carribean-Canadian poet and activist globally recognized for her work exploring family, heritage and identity. Her residency, Toward Delight, is designed to enhance, understand and distill the works present in the Gallery and hold space for community reflection, conversation, and collaborative day-dreaming,” according to a news release.
She will work with the gallery on programming and exhibitions, including A Day of Delight, a day of special programming on Feb. 16, 2024.
“Her unique approach and interpretation of art through the lens of poetry will inspire vibrant conversations and engagement, adding a new layer of depth and understanding to our exhibits and enhancing our shared understanding of what an art gallery can be,” said Anthony Kiendl, the Vancouver Art Gallery's CEO and executive director.
In 2015, Christmas became the first Canadian to reach the World Poetry Slam finals and in 2021, she received the League of Canadian Poets' Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for spoken word poetry and the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Canadian writers. Her first book, The Gospel of the Breaking, was released in 2020.
Source: Vancouver Art Gallery
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