Stacey Walyuchow - Visual Artist

I am proud to submit this letter of support to the nomination for Mr. Wakefield Brewster as Calgary’s next Poet Laureate 2020-2021. As a native Calgarian and lover of the arts, I have no doubt that Mr. Brewster would be an exceptional artistic ambassador for our great city.

Since 1999, Wakefield Brewster has been know as one of Canada’s most popular and prolific Performance Poets. A true artist and poet, Wakefield has been building bridges between poetry and community forever a decade. He not only participates in numerous poetry events across Canada, he has created and hosts events in our city, continuing to spread the joy of poetry and the poet’s responsibility to let others know they are not alone in their grief, joy or happiness.

Over the past two years I have had the pleasure of being introduced to Calgary’s poetry scene through collaborations and events held at Loft 112 in the East Village. It was through The People’s Poetry Festival that I was first introduced to spoken word poetry and the incredible talent of Wakefield Brewster. It was very clear, very quickly that Wakefield has a gift and the passion to fuel his success in poetry, not only through his impactful writing and performance, but through his gift of teaching and his ability to inspire those around him. Wakefield’s personality and poetry are magnetic and not only allow, but encourage the poetry community to feed off of his creativity, emotion and spirit.

Because of hearing Wakefield’s poetry and witnessing his performance for the first time a few years ago, I became a fan of poetry.  Wakefield has this amazing ability to communicate his poetry perfectly to any audience. He writes in such a way that is relatable, in one way or another, to all of us. I am pleased to see that he is being nominated for this position. Having worked with Wakefield as part of the Indie YYC, I have also become familiar with the vast qualities of leadership he possesses. He is a confident person, with a huge commitment and passion to all he is involved in. His work is alway communicated beautifully and his name is remembered long after a performance has finished. I have no doubt that Wakefield Brewster is the best choice for Calgary’s Poet Laureate for 2020-2021 and I strongly support his nomination. 

Sincerely, 

Stacey Walyuchow

Visual Artist