Airdrie Public Library (APL) has announced the winners of its fourth annual Poetry in Motion contest – a yearly collaboration held in partnership with the City of Airdrie.
Each June, Airdrionian scribes are eligible to submit their poems for the poetry-writing contest through the library’s website. Professional poets then blindly judge submissions, with the winning and shortlisted works later displayed on Airdrie Transit buses in the fall.
This year, renowned Canadian poet Bob Stallworthy judged the poems, selecting a winner in two age categories (13 to 17 and all-ages) to receive a $100 bookstore gift card.
Thirteen-year-old Windsong Heights student Noor Mansoor and Calgary Board of Education instructor Kira Anderson-Holladay snagged the top spot in each category this year, while the shortlisted poets included Mia George and Jen Atkin.
“[Poetry in Motion] shows there are plenty of people who are very creative who live right here in Airdrie who have a voice, who have all sorts of experiences that they’d like to share through the craft of poetry,” said Eric Pottie programming and customer engagement manager at APL, about the contest.
“It’s always great to be able to show the community how creative the people of Airdrie really are.”
Pottie added for the first time, a celebration and open mic night event was planned for Poetry in Motion this year. The event is slated for Sept. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. to acknowledge the efforts of all the poets who participated in the competition, while also showcasing the top poets’ submitted works.
Both Mansoor and Anderson-Holladay are scheduled to read aloud their winning poems at the open mic night.
According to Mansoor, her poem entitled Thorns is all about people who are closed off to the rest of the world and don’t grow or branch out because of their fear of falling behind or getting hurt.
“That’s why I thought of roses,” the poet said of her poem’s theme. “Roses have thorns so that people can’t pick them.”
Mansoor’s second submitted poem, called Dreamer Girl, was about a girl whose love of reading carries her away to imaginary worlds in an effort to escape from reality.
The Grade 8 poet said she recently became interested in poetry as she thought it would be a good way to expand and develop her writing skills.
“[I like] the way you can write your feelings in a different way for other people to read,” she said, adding she also likes the hidden nature of poetry.
She admitted when she found out she had won the competition, she was taken aback, as she didn’t anticipate taking home the top prize in her category.
“I didn’t think I’d win – I’m just 13,” she said. “I thought there would be further advanced people, but then I was excited that I won, and that people would be able to see my poems. I was just super thrilled to hear [I had won].”
With the prize money, she plans to purchase some of her favourite books (including the Hunger Games series) to continue to expand her writing and reading skills.
Fellow poet Anderson-Holladay said she began writing poetry when she was a kid as an outlet when she experienced a bout of bullying. She said poetry gave her the freedom and flexibility to express her feelings.
“I have always liked playing with words and creating imagery in people’s minds,” she said.
As a humanities teacher, Anderson-Holladay said she often teaches poetry and writing to her students, helping them to process their emotions through creative means such as poetry.
According to Anderson-Holladay, at the end of the 2021-22 school year, her class had completed a poetry module and she stumbled across the Poetry in Motion contest accidentally when browsing Facebook.
“I’ve been writing a lot of poetry through the year for my students, and I looked at my husband and said, ‘I think I should enter this contest,’” she said. “I think I kind of wanted to take a risk and just see what would happen.
“My thoughts have always been that poetry is meant to be shared, but I never really had the opportunity [before now].”
She added she felt if she ever wanted to encourage her students to pursue their dreams, she had to muster up the courage to do the same. When the teacher found out she had won, there were feelings of shock, but also immense pride in her accomplishment.
“I think for one of the first times in my life, I was acknowledged by peers and by other people that something that I do for fun and that I love and am passionate about was even to be considered,” she said. “Even if I hadn’t been given first place, just to have someone relate [to my poem] filled me with pride and excitement.”
Anderson-Holladay said her poem was about giving a voice to Indigenous people and rebuilding relationships while working towards truth and reconciliation.
“I have a lot of students that are Indigenous, and we do a lot of work around understanding and respecting the land,” she said. “And so, I chose to use specific words that brought back that culture and that voice and I tied it to the land.
“[It is important to] acknowledge the land, the people, ancestors, and make sure that everyone is heard.”
The Calgary teacher said she is hoping to continue writing poems and using her pen and pad as an outlet to express her thoughts and feelings, while also encouraging her students to do the same.
“[It’s about] being able to [tell my students] they can actually be recognized for their work and being able to continue to use [poetry] to tell stories and to talk about things,” she said. “Maybe there will be other contests in the future – this is a whole new world to me.”
Anderson-Holladay said she plans to use the gift card money to purchase some textbooks for her husband to pursue his passion, purchase a few graphic novels for her students, and buy at least one book to read with her three boys at home.
She said some final words of advice for any hopeful poets is to seize the day, push past the fear, and pursue one’s passions wholeheartedly.
