Charlotte Cranston has come a long ways since she wrote her first poem about trees at the age of four and a half. Recently, she was thrilled to receive the call she had been selected as Edmonton's first Youth Poet Laureate.
Halfway through her university undergraduate degree as a sociology major, Charlotte has come to appreciate how her studies have broadened her perspective. Her poetry is inspired by social issues such as gender and education. She is also interested in exploring inequality and oppression, and what people do on all levels to effect social change. For example, Charlotte once wrote a poem to draw attention to the ridiculousness of the beauty standards imposed on women.
One of her goals as Youth Poet Laureate is to create platforms for young people to share their stories and be heard: "The opportunity to work with Edmonton's young poets is an honour. I can't wait to see what my favourite city's young people will create in the coming year!"
This fall, Charlotte will compete at the National Spoken Word Poetry championships in Saskatoon. But students in Dr. Ken Caine's Social Problems class won't have to travel that far to hear Charlotte. She'll be a guest speaker in his class this fall. Students will get the chance to meet Charlotte in person, listen to her talk about her poetry and discover how she uses poetry to convey her passion for gender, equality and social change.
Listen to Charlotte's interview on CBC here: https://soundcloud.com/cbc-edmonton/edmontons-first-youth-poet-laureate