As current regional writer in residence Michael Hingston tackles his last few weeks on duty, program organizers have announced the names of both his successor and that of Darrin Hagen, his counterpart at the Edmonton Public Library.
Replacing Hagen in 2019 will be poet and editor Matthew Stepanic while Mary Pinkoski will take on Hingston’s regional mantle with its rotating shifts at the Strathcona County Library, the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library and the St. Albert Public Library.
“I feel great. I feel really honoured and blessed to be able to be the regional writer in residence and to work in three different communities. I think it’s going to be awesome,” she said.
Pinkoski brings a wealth of literary experience to the table. She worked as a reporter at the Sherwood Park News for almost a decade. That journalistic side of her career started after a work experience program while she was still in high school, continuing through her undergrad studies at the University of Alberta where she also contributed to the Gateway student newspaper. Perhaps it was there that she developed a knack for creative non-fiction work.
She also has years of expertise in academic writing, a venue not generally known for creative expression though the poetic Pinkoski has found a way to spice up her work even there. But that’s not what she’s known for.
Pinkoski was Edmonton’s fifth poet laureate and is responsible for creating the youth poet laureate position. She has performed her works across North America and, notably, at the 2015 Winter Lights Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. She still performs across Canada and offers workshops for writers of all ages and experiences across Alberta, despite still being heavily involved in getting through her doctorate at the U of A’s Faculty of Education.
Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies, and she is the 2011 Canadian National Spoken Word Champion and a winner of the 2008 CBC National Poetry Face-off. Rumour has it that she can find a rhyme for orange.
Not one to miss a beat, she already has some programs – on every subject from poetry to graphic novels to pitching – lined up for the first few months when she will be stationed at the Strathcona County Library. Before any of those happen, she will be hosting a meet and greet from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 13, during which she will also do a live poetry performance. Pre-registration is required.
Frankly, she can’t wait to get the show started.
“One of the things I enjoy most in my writing practice is working with the community and I find sometimes one of the best sites in which to do that is through programming. I hope throughout my whole tenure during the year that I’m able to bring innovative programming opportunities that allow writers in each of the communities to connect with other writers within the communities but also with local authors from the Edmonton region.”
She encourages people to bring their work to her “for consultation or conversation.”
Her four-month stations run from January to April (at the Strathcona County Library) before she moves off to the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library until somewhere around mid-August. At that point, she’ll pack her pens and her rhyming dictionary and head to St. Albert Place where she will establish her brass ‘Writer in Res’ nameplate on the second floor of the St. Albert Public Library.
In the meantime, Hingston is still on duty until Saturday, Dec. 15, and is still available for consultations. Contact him at [email protected] to make an appointment. His office hours are Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 2 to 8 p.m.
More information can be found at www.metrowir.com.
