What is Archipel about?

Archipel is an ongoing dialogue between me (Cara Waterfall) and other poets and creatives of all kinds, celebrating the ways we connect through mentorship, community and transitions.

I am a poet and have lived over half of my life overseas. Most of my poems have been written in isolation, often adrift from the geographical, cultural and linguistic ties that might anchor me. But connection is essential to creative practice, whether you are doing it remotely or in person.

What has sustained me creatively? My generous and brilliant mentors, and the poetry community at large. They have helped me brave rejection and combat doubt. They have cheered me on and taught me the importance of respecting other people who have chosen a similar calling.

Archipel was also inspired by my very first poetry mentor, my father. When you purchase a subscription to this newsletter, you are paying into a scholarship fund in his name, which will support emerging poets. To learn more about The Donald E. Waterfall Scholarship Fund, click here.

Archipel (the French word for archipelago) embodies the idea of being separate yet interconnected. As a French-speaking Anglophone living in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire for the third time with a French partner and three children whose mother tongue is French, Archipel also explores my own experiences with the French language as well as the ways in which poetic language straddles the porous border between the real and the speculative.

Archipel will also include occasional reflections on transitions in my life, including my foray into new creative projects.

Why subscribe?

In Archipel, I hope you find inspiration for your own creative process.

I hope you feel inspired to embrace new ways of finding and fostering connection through your art.

This project is also my way of giving back to the people and community, who have kept me afloat, while I was working, mothering, moving, witnessing, writing and not writing.

I hope a part of Archipel resonates with you.

Who are you?

I’m Cara, a poet, storyteller and mentor who teaches other writers how to sustain thriving, creative practices and reclaim their artistic identities.

I was born in Ottawa, a city with two official languages, which might explain my interest in the French language and Francophone culture. I also inherited my family’s history of movement. Most recently, I moved from a dairy farm in Costa Rica — inhabited by a dozen dogs, chickens and the occasional tarantula — to Côte d’Ivoire for the third time.

What you should know about me: I care deeply about demystifying poetry and helping it reach readers in every space. I want to celebrate creative mentorship and find ways of making it more accessible to underserved communities. I believe it is crucial to democratize access to the craft of poetry and publishing. I’m a mother to two boys and a girl. I’m obsessed with word etymologies, stationery and 90’s hip-hop. I hate washing cutlery. I completed my first obstacle course in May 2024 at Ébimpé Stadium, where the Cote d’Ivoire football team won the African Cup of Champions. And in 2023, I took a three-and-a-half week Campervan trip with my family through France, Spain and Portugal. Here I am in Cangas de Onis, Asturias in Spain, enjoying a rare respite from the heat.

My work frequently navigates the complexities of identity, place and intergenerational memory. I have post-graduate diplomas in Poetry & Lyric Discourse, where I was mentored by Vancouver’s Poet Laureate Fiona Tinwei Lam, and Journalism. I won Room’s 2018 Short Forms and 2020 Poetry Contests, PULPLiterature's 2022 The Magpie Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize. In 2011, I received a National Geographic Glimpse Correspondent grant to produce two long-form features on Côte d'Ivoire: “Rebelles: Ivoirian Women Fight for Change” and “Art as Reconciliation”.

In May 2025, my first poetry collection, “Radiant Wound,” is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press and explores my life in Abidjan after the second civil war. I recently completed my second poetry manuscript and am currently working on my third, which honours Nouchi, a hybrid language that unites crucial threads of Côte d’Ivoire's identity.