For the first time in history, Stony Plain will be hosting a Poet Laureate –  a cultural and literary ambassador, a champion for poetry, and representative through original works that reflect on our community and life. Stony Plain’s Poet Laureate will be the 6th in Alberta joining Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, and St. Albert. 

Poet Lisa Mulrooney was selected from the pool of nominees for the role by a subcommittee of the Cultural Roundtable.  Criteria included assessment of submitted works, peer recommendations, publications, plans for community engagement, and leadership experience in relation to poetry. 

"I am incredibly honoured to have been nominated and selected as the first ever Poet Laureate for Stony Plain, a town that so proudly embraces and supports the arts and culture in its community. Poetry has been a powerful force in my life, and I hope that during my term in this new role, I can help others to feel as energized and as inspired as I have been through the sharing of poetic language,” says Lisa Mulrooney. 

Lisa is originally from Redditch, England and now calls Stony Plain her home.  She co-founded and is president of the local Parkland Poets’ Society and serves on both Edmonton’s Stroll of Poets Society and the Writer’s Guild of Alberta.  Lisa was also recently shortlisted for the Malahat Review’s 2019 Open Season Award in Poetry and her work can be found in a number of anthologies. 

Angela Fetch Muzyka, Culture and Tourism Development Officer says, “In 2018, I invited Alice Major to a Cultural Roundtable meeting to talk about her time as Edmonton’s Poet Laureate. Her stories inspired us to start the search for our own Poet Laureate.”   

The Town of Stony Plain thanks all the nominees for their submissions.  The first public speaking engagement for Lisa will be March 4, 2019 when she addresses Council.