Jordan will invite guests to read the poems he has written about their stories as well as reading some himself. He will open up for questions to be asked as well.

Jordan Trethewey’s tribute to the people of Fredericton, a city I have never been to, traveled nearly 5400km westward for a curious read. Civic poetry is a unique way of getting the scoop on what to really pay attention to in an unfamiliar space: the people. In reading about people from away (from me, at least), we get to learn something pretty nifty: Frederictonians! They are just like us! Strip away the named location, and these poems may as well be familiar and relatable to those living in many west coast cities and towns. The beauty of this 2021 – 2024 poet laureate’s work is that it is accessible to all — not just a love letter to Fredericton, but a gift for anyone to pick up and feel seen. Intimate themes of family, grief, immigrant loneliness, relationships requited and unrequited, obstacles overcome and succumbed to are just a few which echo throughout this collection. What makes this work even more special is that each poem is a tribute to a real person, living or dead, or to Fredericton itself.