Sudbury's poet laureate named a newsmaker of the year by francophone publication

Sudbury's poet laureate, Alex Tétrault, was recently named one of 10 newsmakers of the year by Franco Presse, a publication focused on francophone communities outside of Quebec.

Tétrault said one nice thing about the recognition was the opportunity to learn more about the other nine newsmakers of the year.

"I got to reading through their profiles and doing a little bit more research and going like, 'OK, there's really cool stuff happening just about everywhere across the country.'"

Tétrault said it's important for francophones outside of Quebec to remind themselves about what's going on outside of their own communities.

"We exist, we're around," he said.

"You might not hear about us very often, but we're still there, we're still working."

In addition to being appointed as Sudbury's eighth poet laureate in June 2024, Tétrault said he was focused on fostering more collaboration with other artists.

In 2024, he started hosting regular meetups with other artists.

"The idea with these meetups was just to have an informal setting for artists where we don't have to feel like we're promoting ourselves," he said.

"We're not trying to get a gig. That's not the point. It's just a nice place where we can all chat, decompress, and just share."

Tétrault said he's also starting a theatre company with his creative partner, France Huot. 

"There are so few institutions or organizations that are creating theatre that it's tough for them to represent everyone within the community," he said.

"Honestly I'd rather have more theatre companies than not enough."