Hendrik Slegtenhorst’s commitments have extended across executive management of local government and heritage institutions, board directorships in community development, senior management in higher education, corporate appointments at transnationals, extensive participation in cultural and artistic organizations, and his activities as a professional writer.
By design, he has worked in Canada’s six largest cities—Ottawa, Montréal, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver—but also many of the country’s smaller communities, and all regions of Canada except, so far, the far north. He has worked as well in the United States, Europe, and Africa. He now resides in Edmonton.
For most of the last seven years, he has served as the chief administrative officer to municipalities in New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Alberta. He has held senior and editorial appointments in post-secondary educational administration at l’Université de Montréal, Athabasca University, York University, the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and the Banff Centre. He is a former executive director of the Museum of Vancouver and has trained and taught as an international trade specialist.
His publications include Caravaggio’s Dagger (Iguana, 2013), over 100 articles and poems in established periodicals, and the cultural website www.culturalrites.com.
Questions & Answers
Is there a specific moment that inspired you to pursue poetry?
No. But Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and a number of others can be blamed.
How/where do you find inspiration today?
Daily life.
What is your writing process?
Fill the blank page. (Actually, screen.)
What is your revision/editing process?
Lengthy.
Did you write poetry in high school? If yes, how did you get started? If no, why not?
Yes. Nature and love probably both had something to do with it. Also music.
Do you use any resources that a young poet would find useful (e.g. websites, text books, etc.)?
The architecture of classical music.
When you were high school aged, what would have been helpful/motivating to hear from a published poet?
Too long ago for me to remember.