Photo: Amanda Elliott

Danielle Boodoo-Fortune was installed as Trinidad and Tobago’s new Poet Laureate at a ceremony in Port of Spain on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

The Poet Laureate of Trinidad and Tobago Programme recognises literary excellence, celebrates the nation’s rich oral traditions and promotes engagement with poetry through public readings, workshops and community outreach. It began in 2000, when the Circle of Poets of Trinidad and Tobago partnered with the Mayor of Port of Spain to create the title of Poet Laureate of Port of Spain, which championed literature and poetry in the capital. In 2017, the programme became a nationwide initiative, launched by then President Anthony Carmona on October 15, National Poetry Day. Paul Keens-Douglas was selected as the first national Poet Laureate and spent nearly a decade using storytelling, oral traditions and local dialect to keep Caribbean folklore and humour accessible.

The announcement of the new laureate was made at the National Library, with President Christine Carla Kangaloo, the programme’s patron, in attendance. The programme is now a collaboration between the Circle of Poets of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS).