Undi named parliamentary poet laureate for 2025-26

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This article was published 29/01/2025 (421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg poet Chimwemwe Undi has been named Canada’s 11th parliamentary poet laureate.

Undi, who is also a lawyer at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP, served as Winnipeg’s third poet laureate in 2023-24; she was announced as the 2025-26 parliamentary poet laureate on Jan. 29 by Raymonde Gagné, the speaker of the Senate, and Greg Fergus, the speaker of the House of Commons. She takes over from Quebec’s outgoing parliamentary poet laureate Marie-Célie Agnant, whose two-year term concluded at the end of 2024.

According to the Parliament of Canada website, the parliamentary poet laureate’s duties may include writing poetry for use in Parliament, sponsoring readings, advising the parliamentary librarian on the library’s collection, as well as other duties. 

Undi’s debut poetry collection Scientific Marvel, published in April 2024, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry.