After Al Purdy Poetry Contest

 After Al Purdy Contest Winners 

 

The judges, on behalf of Freehand Books, Harbour Publishing, and the Department of English at the University of Calgary, are delighted to announce the winners of The After Al Purdy Poetry Contest. The contest, which ran in the fall of 2009, was designed to acknowledge Purdy’s significance, to recognize and celebrate both established and emerging poets from across the country, and to raise funds and awareness for The Al Purdy A-frame Trust.

Three winners were chosen in each category (emerging and established) and, following the breadth of Purdy’s own geographical consciousness, winning poems in each category are being published in The Antigonish Review, The New Quarterly, and Event. Additionally, winners receive a selection of recent titles from both Freehand Books and Harbour Publishing, including the latter’s recent The Al Purdy A-Frame Anthology, edited by Paul Vermeersch.

Emerging Winners

“To a Beer-Swillin’ Poet” by David Huebert (to be published in Event)
“The Unbounded Cartographer” by Angela Waldie (to be published in The Antigonish Review)
“Up There” by Carolyn Sadowska (to be published in The New Quarterly)

Established Winners

“After Purdy: When the world was bush” by Antony Di Nardo (to be published in The New Quarterly)
“Ventricles, Aortas, Formaldehyde, Frogs” by Susan Stenson (to be published in The Antigonish Review)
“When we begin to grow old” by Clea Roberts (to be published in Event)

We received over 100 poems written in a wide variety of styles and voices, and which engaged with Purdy’s legacy in overt, implicit, and tangential ways. Entries arrived from every corner of the country, and several even from beyond its borders. The judges were particularly impressed by the quality of poems entered by emerging poets.

Thanks to everyone who entered and donated to The Al Purdy A-frame Trust; we managed to raise $1120.00 towards the preservation of the house. This contest was an unabashed success but much work remains to be done in order to preserve the A-frame. Please visit  www.alpurdy.ca for more information.

                                     -Suzette Mayr, Owen Percy, Robyn Read, and Tom Wayman

More information on The Al Purdy A-Frame Trust can be found at www.alpurdy.ca