Kamal Parmar has been appointed as Nanaimo’s new poet laureate for a two-year term.
Parmar writes haiku poetry and non-fiction. Frequent topics include childhood memories of her home in India, the beauty of Canada’s prairies, her own personal journey and her mother.
Parmar hopes to raise the profile of poetry in Nanaimo as a tool for healing and increased connection between people of all ages, she said in a statement.
She “firmly believes that each of us has some subtle form of poetry in us, which needs to be explored.”
Mayor Leonard Krog said poetry can inspire anyone to learn and grow, “and to observe the world around us with new eyes.”
Parmar has often presented poems around Vancouver Island.
She has been involved with Nanaimo’s culture committee and with the Nanaimo Arts Council.
Her work has been published in the U.K., Canada and India.
Her books include Still Waters (2020), Letters to a Son and a Daughter (2019), In the Rising Mist (2013), Fleeting Shadows (2010), and Filigree and Flint (1997).
