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18 years of Poets Flyés

Every year from 2006 to 2019, the Frye Festival has chosen a Poet Flyé and has given them a mission to create original poems during the festivities. 

The Poet Flyé writes two original and bilingual poems inspired by the invited authors, their books, the events and Northrop Frye as well as any special features of each new edition of the festival. The first poem is read during our Opening Ceremony and the second during our closing event, Frye Jam.

Jean-Philippe Raîche & Kayla Geitzler

The mandate of Moncton's Poets Flyés is to act as the city’s literary ambassadors, to promote the importance of writing and the art of the spoken word in both official languages, and to make Moncton’s voices known beyond the city’s boundaries.

The exceptional three-year term (due to Covid-19) will start in September 2019 and end in August 2022 with the announcement of their successors.

Each Poet Flyé will receive an annual honorarium of $3,500 from the City of Moncton in addition to an annual budget of $1,500 from the Frye Festival to fund a community project in connection with poetry.

City of Moncton ►         Poetry Project ▼

Photo : Louis-Philippe Chiasson

Kayla Geitzler

Kayla Geitzler is from Moncton, which is within Siknikt of the Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq People (NB).

Named “A Rad Woman of Canadian Poetry” by All Lit Up, she is Moncton’s inaugural Anglophone Poet Laureate & host of the Attic Owl Reading Series.

Her first book, That Light Feeling Under Your Feet, was a Calgary Bestseller & finalist for two poetry awards. Kayla Geitzler is co-editor of Cadence: voix féminines Female Voices, a multilingual poetry anthology, the first publication of its kind in NB. She holds an MA in English Creative Writing from UNB & works as an editor & writing consultant.

She has recently accepted the position of Poetry Editor for Galleon.

Jean-Philippe Raîche

An Acadian poet born in the Kespek region of the Mi'kma'ki, the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaq people (New Brunswick), Jean-Philippe Raîche evokes through his work tragic collective destinies, voluntary exile, and wandering. Establishing uprootedness as a figure of the human condition, he constructs the body of a loved one as the only place of return.  

As a young student at the Université de Moncton in the late 80s, Raîche helped re-launch Éditions Perce-Neige, Acadie’s primary publisher. He studied at the universities of Montreal, McGill, and Paris VII before joining the Canadian Embassy in 1997, where he was in charge of universities before moving on to the literary and film departments. He came home to Acadie in 2012, settling in Moncton where he was editor of Perce-Neige’s poetry collection for three years.  

His first poetry collection, Une lettre au bout du monde, was published in 2001 by Perce-Neige. Critically acclaimed, the work was shortlisted for the Antonine-Maillet Prize, the Émile-Nelligan Prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award.

In 2007, Ne réveillez pas l’amour avant qu’elle ne le veuille, which transposes the Cantique des Cantiques to the modern era, won the Aliénor and Louise-Labé prizes in France. His work has been published in several reviews and anthologies in Canada and France. 

Discover the Poets Flyés' project on its dedicated website: Poésie Moncton Poetry.

        2019

          Georgette LeBlanc

          2018

             Mo Bolduc

          2016 & 2017

              Christine Melanson

        2014 & 2015

           Josephine Watson

          2011 - 2013

              Gabriel Robichaud

          2010

             Jessie Robichaud

         2006 - 2009

             Paul Bossé