Poet Laureate Podcast – Episode Eight Joanna Streetly | Deep Time, Transformation, and the Ethics of Place

In this eighth episode, Kyeren Regehr sits down with Joanna Streetly—poet, memoirist, and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Tofino. Writing from a float house in Clayoquot Sound, Joanna explores the intersections of deep time, personal grief, and the fluid nature of transformation.

The conversation navigates the ethics of writing about place as a settler, the "brave swimmer" metaphor for exploring darkness, and how the strict discipline of Haiku can sharpen a narrative voice. Joanna shares moving stories from her laureateship, including her work amplifying the histories of Japanese internment and residential schools  through community elders. Featuring three poems, including the evocative “Cochlear” and the searing “First Supper.” 

Joanna Streetly’s work appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2024, Best Canadian Essays 2017, and numerous literary journals. Her latest collection, All of Us Hidden (Caitlin Press), arrives this fall. Her memoir, Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast, is a BC Bestseller. Other titles include Paddling Through Time, Silent Inlet, and the poetry collection This Dark (Postelsia). She has been shortlisted for the FBCW Literary Writes Poetry Contest, The Spectator’s Shiva Naipaul Award, and the Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction Prize. Raised in Trinidad, Joanna moved to Canada at 18 and has lived on the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht people since 1990. She served as the 2018-2020 Tofino Poet Laureate.

This episode is generously supported by Mermaid Tales Bookshop. A charming independent bookstore in Tofino, BC, Mermaid Tales is known for its carefully curated collection of novels, local interest reads, and literary treasures that help readers take chances on stories that open new vistas. Discover more at mermaidbooks.ca.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & poetlaureatepdcast@bsky.social.

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.