Anne Michaels selected as Toronto’s fifth poet laureate

TORONTO – Renowned writer Anne Michaels says she’s looking forward to celebrating Toronto’s “many voices” as the city’s fifth poet laureate.

Toronto announced Michaels as its new poet laureate on Wednesday, noting the appointment is pending approval by city council in November.

A native of Toronto, Michaels is well known for her 1996 debut novel “Fugitive Pieces,” which was made into a film and won the Trillium Book Award, Orange Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

Her second novel, “The Winter Vault,” was a finalist for the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Trillium Book Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

She’s also been lauded for her poetry collections — “The Weight of Oranges” won a Commonwealth Prize and “Miner’s Pond” was a finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award.

Her other collections include “Correspondences,” which was a finalist for last year’s Griffin Poetry Prize.

Michaels replaces former laureate George Elliott Clarke for the title, which comes with an annual honorarium of $10,000 for three years.

“I am very honoured by this appointment and eager to serve our wonderful city in all its diversity,” Michaels said in a statement.

“Toronto is fortunate to embrace dozens of languages and has an invaluable literary history. I am looking forward to celebrating our many voices, old and new.”