Poet Laureate Podcast – Episode Six
Drew Lavigne | The Aesthetic Pull

In this episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Drew Lavigne—poet laureate of Moncton, poetry editor at The Fiddlehead, curator of the Attic Owl Reading Series, and author of Evening Dress (Anstruther Press). With precision and vulnerability, Drew speaks about the compulsion to write, the quiet power of memory, and poetry as both record and ritual.

The conversation travels through long-form poetics, family mythologies, shame and transformation, queer literary lineage, and the textured intimacy of bilingual translation. Drew shares how poems insist themselves into his day, why aesthetic experience can redeem even the hardest moments, and how poetry, like music, changes us in the air.

Drew Lavigne is a member of the editorial board at The Fiddlehead and host of the Attic Owl reading series. Recent work has appeared in Vallum, Visual Arts News, Tourniquet Magazine, and with Éditions Rhizome. He translated the collection Poems Twofold with Georgette LeBlanc and is the author of Evening Dress with Anstruther Press. 

This episode is generously supported by The Fiddlehead, Atlantic Canada’s international literary journal. Published quarterly in Fredericton, The Fiddlehead features exceptional poetry, fiction, and reviews from Canada and beyond. Learn more at thefiddlehead.ca

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.