Biography
Lauren Seal is a writer and former Poet Laureate of St. Albert, Alberta. She mentors the teen and young adult poets of SWYC, the Spoken Word Youth Choir, and performs in the adult incarnation of the group.Light Enough to Float--her debut novel-in-verse and winner of the Schneider Family Book Award Honor--is inspired by her own experiences with anorexia, anxiety, and hospitalization.
Micro-interview
I didn't read a lot of poetry in high school, only what was assigned in class. However, I did fall deeply in love with one poem a very special english teacher gave me to analyze: "I Should Have Caught My Unicorn When I Was" by Daria Witt. I first read it while in the midst of a serious mental health crisis and this poem did exactly what poetry is meant to do -- made me feel seen and heard.
I started writing poetry when I was 14, but I didn't consider myself a poet until my mid-20s. Looking back on my poet journey, I can now see I was very wrong. I was as much a poet at 14 as I am now.
I believe poets have many different jobs. For me, I think a poet's job is to listen, observe, and record so that moments -- happy, beautiful, sad, angry, hopeful -- are remembered and available for others to both see themselves in and learn from.
I would memorize "How to Triumph Like a Girl" by Ada Limon. It's a beautiful, deceptively complex poem about the body, girlhood, and confidence.
