Nigerian poet Titilope Sonuga has been named the Poet Laureate of Edmonton, Canada.

Sonuga is the ninth Poet Laureate of Edmonton.  Titilope Sonuga will serve a two-year term as Edmonton’s Poet Laureate from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023.

Sonuga is a poet, playwright and performer.  Her poetry are highly heavy on themes of tenderness and persistent joy at the intersection of blackness and womanhood. Sonuga is a leading voice in local and international poetry communities. She has facilitated adult and youth poetry workshops worldwide, and has also served on various artistic and community boards in Edmonton.  She is the founder of the Breath in Poetry Collective, a mentorship and performance platform for emerging poets.

 Sonuga has published three collections of poetry: Down to Earth (Self Published, 2011), Abscess (Geko Publishing, 2014), and This Is How We Disappear (Write Bloody North, 2019). She has composed and released two spoken word albums; Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). She has written three plays, The Six; an intergenerational exploration of womanhood, Naked; a one-woman play and Ada the Country, a musical.

Sonuga has scripted global advertising campaigns for numerous organizations, including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Intel Corporation, The World Health Organization, White Ribbon Alliance and The MacArthur Foundation. Her writing has been translated into Italian, German and Slovak.

Congratulations Sonuga!