In this third episode Kyeren Regehr welcomes John Barton—poet, editor, essayist, and the fifth Poet Laureate of Victoria, BC. With unflinching grace and poetic precision, John speaks to the evolution of queer poetics in Canada, the intimate distances of influence and his evolving relationship with formal constraint. Featuring three poems, including the Frank O’Hara–inspired “In Eggs and Love.” Recorded in Victoria, BC, on the Lekwungen homelands at Haus of Owl.

Please note: this is our longest episode so far, and we couldn’t bear to cut it. John’s stories and poems invite deep listening, and we hope you’ll settle in and take the time. We’re honoured to hold space for this conversation in its fullness, especially during Pride month. 

This episode is generously supported by The Malahat Review. A cornerstone of Canadian letters since 1967, The Malahat Review is published quarterly by the University of Victoria and showcases exceptional contemporary literary writing from Canada and beyond. The Malahat Review has been a vital space for literary excellence and discovery for nearly six decades. You can support this iconic Canadian literary journal by subscribing at malahatreview.ca.

John Barton (https://www.john-barton.ca) is a poet, essayist, editor and writing mentor. His collections and chapbooks of poetry include Hymn, For the Boy with the Eyes of the Virgin: Selected Poems, Polari, Lost Family: A Memoir, which was nominated for the 2021 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, Stopwatch, and Compulsory Figures, forthcoming from Caitlin Press in September 2025. 

His other books include Seminal: The Anthology of Canada’s Gay-Male Poets, The Malahat Review at Fifty, We Are Not Avatars: Essays, Memoirs, Manifestos, The Essential Douglas LePan, which won a 2020 eLit Award, The Essential Derk Wynand, and Best Canadian Poetry 2023. 

Sonnets from Lost Family have been set to music and performed as Coda for the Victims at VerseFest in Ottawa, with the support of Qu’Art, in March 2023, and as Chosen Family by the Chronos Vocal Ensemble in Edmonton to settings composed by Stuart Beatch in January 2024. 

The recipient of three Archibald Lampman Awards, a CBC Literary Award, and a National Magazine Award, he was made a life member of the League of Canadian Poets in 2021. Co-editor of Ottawa’s Arc Poetry Magazine for thirteen years and editor of The Malahat Review for fourteen years, he sits on Grain Magazine’s advisory board and was a member of Plenitude’s inaugural advisory board. 

Born in Edmonton and raised in Calgary, John lives in Victoria, where from 2019 to 2022, he was the city’s first male and first queer poet laureate.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & poetlaureatepdcast@bsky.social.

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.