Blyth poet Carol Casey prepares for Poetry in the Gallery event

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

On Aug. 23, local author Carol Casey will be sharing the fruits of her poetic prowess at the Blyth Centre for the Arts for the third installment of 2026’s Poetry in the Gallery series. The Citizen sat down with Casey to learn a little more about the woman behind the words. 

 

Casey first started writing creatively the way most Canadian children do - as part of her school exercises. While she always enjoyed the poetry-writing process, it wasn’t until her Grade 8 teacher read one of her poems aloud to the whole class that something clicked. “I’ve thought of myself as a poet ever since then,” she told The Citizen.

 

Since that fateful day, much of what has happened in her life has found its way onto the page. Poetry has become a way for her to process the big moments and hold on to the everyday ones. “Sometimes I can make sense of things better when I write it in poetry,” Casey explained. “It just feels good to write poetry. It feels great to get in the zone.”

 

It’s a river that flows both ways - just as Casey’s writing helps her understand those moments, so too do those moments help Casey understand her writing. More recently, she has been paying greater attention to the craft itself by experimenting with metre, making time for rhymes, and accessing alliteration. “I think I’m doing more with words these days than I was before,” she says. “I’m enjoying playing with words more.”

 

As a prolific writer with piles of poems at her disposal, Casey has her work cut out for her when it comes to choosing which pieces to perform on Aug. 23. While nature and her grandchildren remain perennial subjects, Casey has recently been deliberately pushing herself into darker territory. “I’m trying to make sure that my poems don’t all end on a happy note,” she told The Citizen. “I guess I’m just trying to expand myself.”

 

To narrow it down, Casey has decided to comb through years of writing in search of poems that complement the curated art exhibit opening at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery on Aug. 15. “Poetry and art is just such a nice pairing,” she pointed out.
While Casey primarily considers herself a print, not a performance poet, she has come to appreciate what happens when one’s words leave the page and meet an audience. “I think poetry is a conversation, and I think that performance is part of that conversation,” she mused.

 

For Casey, sharing her poetry is ultimately about connection, which is why she is particularly happy that her Aug. 23 reading will be followed by an open mic - she prefers a shared experience with other poets over simply standing in front of an audience and delivering her own work. “It can make people feel like you’re stating things that other people feel, too, and that they may not know how to express,” she said. “And it’s nice to participate in something that’s happening close by. I’d really like it if anybody who writes poetry came and had the courage to step up.”

 

Carol Casey’s afternoon of Poetry in the Gallery begins at 2 p.m. on Aug. 23, at Memorial Hall in Blyth.