Throughout September, Airdrie Transit users will be treated to the writing of local poets during their rides.
Winning and shortlisted poems in Airdrie Public Library’s (APL) second annual Poetry in Motion contest have been displayed in Airdrie buses since the beginning of the month. The contest winners were notified at the end of August.
Spencer Miller, 26, said he was “surprised” but overjoyed when he learned his poem The Last City We Called Home topped the Open category.
“It was really nice to receive some good news,” Miller said. “I think it’s been a really difficult, challenging time in the world, so to see a flash of good news come through really brightened up my day [and] my whole week.”
The Last City We Called Home is about experiences Miller had with friends while living in Airdrie, and was meant as a reflection on the value of friendship. This summer, Miller and his wife, Sarah de Oliveira, moved from Airdrie to Montreal so she could undertake graduate studies.
“In the middle of this pandemic I also had to plan a move across the country,” Miller said. “I did grow up and was raised in Airdrie, I’ve been there most of my life, so it was really daunting to leave. [With] this poem, I was trying to express the feelings and the uncertainties I had about leaving this place that I call home.”
Meanwhile, Madison Broussard, 15, took the prize in the Youth category. Broussard said she was initially “shocked” to find out she’d won the contest, but was then quickly filled with excitement.
“I felt validated, almost, that I had the talent,” she said.
According to Broussard, her poem The Dreary Flower is about a flower that isn’t beautiful in a traditional sense but is still beautiful in its own way.
Besides having their work displayed in public, Miller and Broussard also each received an iPad provided by the City of Airdrie.
Along with Miller and Broussard, poems by Jen Atkin and Sabrina Niesman are also displayed on Airdrie Transit.
“When I found out about the competition, I sat down to start writing and it kind of just came to me,” she said. “All the flowers in the garden were just blooming and I thought it might be nice to write one about pretty spring flowers.”According to Eric Pottie, APL’s Programming and Customer Engagement Manager, the contest – which ran from June 1 to 30 – was an open call for citizens of Airdrie to submit original poems.
The contest was blind-judged by Calgary poet Vivian Hansen, the 2020 winner of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award, which is presented to acknowledge lifetime contributions to writing in the province. Hansen’s books include A Bitter Mood of Clouds and Leylines of My Flesh.
Pottie said the aim of the contest is not only to promote literacy and poetry in Airdrie but also to spotlight local writers and contribute to a sense of community.
“If we wanted to just infuse poetry into everything, I could talk to the City about putting Robert Frost or Keats or just poems around,” he said. “The idea of this is a chance for the people of Airdrie to get engaged with the library in a new literacy way through poetry.”
“[The poet] could be anybody. It could be anyone on the bus. The author could be sitting there right next to you.”
According to Miller, poetry can “help us express ourselves and understand each other.”
“Poetry really connects me to other people, whether it’s poets I’m reading that I’ve never met or being able to attend an event at the local library and hear from members in my own community,” he said. “Poetry really can break down those silent barriers that get in the way. Poetry says things that we can’t say in plain language.”
Broussard, meanwhile, said she loves poetry because it gives the ability to “write whatever you want” and express “something raw.”
“With poetry, there’s no right or wrong,” she said. “So, I suppose, there’s not as much pressure. It makes it pretty fun to write or read.”
The winning and shortlisted poets will share their writing with the community during a virtual open mic night hosted on Zoom by APL Sept. 19 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Afterwards, Pottie said, pre-registered members of the public will have an opportunity to read poems as well. Participants will be allotted five minutes to read.
“It will be a safe, friendly audience because it will all be poets or people who really enjoy poetry, so it will be a really open-eared, open group,” he said.
The event is meant to be a chance for poets to share their work and receive feedback from other poetry enthusiasts, Pottie added, as well as an opportunity for anyone interested in dipping their toe into poetry.
Pottie said APL does not want to restrict anybody’s creativity and the event is geared towards adults. Some poems may deal with mature subject matter and discretion is advised.
Anyone interested in attending the event virtually can register at airdriepubliclibrary.ca to receive a Zoom security code for the event. After registering, anyone interested in sharing their poetry can contact Pottie at [email protected]
Pottie said the winning poems will be uploaded to APL’s website following the open mic event.
Ben Sherick, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BenSherick
