Biography
Carol-Ann Hoyte writes poetry for young people. Some of her favourite ways of enjoying poetry are reading novels written in free verse, sharing riddle poems, and teaching kids how to write poems for two voices. Carol-Ann has featured the work of poets from around the world in two self-published collections: the award-winning And the Crowd Goes Wild!: A Global Gathering of Sports Poems and Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems. Scottish poets Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay, both whom she has had the opportunity to meet, are among her greatest poetic inspirations. One day, Carol-Ann hopes to realize her dream of publishing an international poetry magazine for children. From 2007 to 2022, she worked as a librarian at Selwyn House School. As of June 2022, Carol-Ann has served as the events and program manager for The Canadian Children's Book Centre. Beyond poetry, Carol-Ann is an avid crafter and mother to a delightful son who is quickly surpassing her in height.
Micro-interview
Since I did not read poetry when I was in high school, there isn't a particular poem that I loved when I was a teenager.
It was 2008 when I first started writing poetry and it was as of then that I started thinking of myself as a poet.
A poet's job is to inspire others to try their hand at poetry, to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary, to see commonplace elements with fresh eyes, to offer accessible entry points into poetry, to view how poetry is present, relevant, and significant in everyday life, and to illustrate how we all can connect to poetry on some level.
"Praise the Rain" by Joy Harjo, who was named the U.S. Poet Laureate in June 2019.
