poetry festivalDr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest 2017
Canada’s oldest non-governmental national poetry contest honoured the memory and legacy of its first national poet Dr. Drummond with a very successful year. This year’s contest received 199 poems from 91 poets from across Canada. Ontario Poetry Society and League of Canadian Poets member Keith Inman, who judged the contest, found a challenging task with many strong submissions. He commented on the 20 winning poems: “Overall, the work was brilliant in storytelling, which is what poetry is. That’s its history. And it made my job difficult, narrowing poems to required winners. It’s never easy. One worries over what is missed.” What was truly exceptional: last year’s winner, Wendy Jean MacLean, was also this year’s winner — persuading a different judge to recognize her continued writing excellence.
— David C. Brydges, Administrator
First Place
When the Robins Come by Wendy Jean MacLean
Second Place
So Much is Riding on the Rain by Robin Susanto
Third Place
Cascadia by Wendi Ferrero
Eight Honourable Mentions
- Under the Larches by Elizabeth Cunningham
- You Would Have Laughed by Blaine Marchand
- Barely Breathing by Karla Chavez
- Sudbury 1955 by Penny-Anne Beaudoin
- The Neighbourhood Cat by Suzanne Hunter
- Her Name Was Trudie by Suzanne Hunter
- Awakening by Marvyn Morrison
- Stranger by Nishe Catherine
Nine Judge’s Choice Awards
- Kombi Motoring by Debbie Amirault Camelin
- Ode to an Unknown Neighbour by Melanie Flores
- Love in the 21st Century by Ronnie Brown
- Autumn by Victor Zurkowski
- Itsy Bitsy by Susan Siddeley
- Dark Hunter by Catherine Malvern
- A Million Green Maple Flowers by Elizabeth Cunningham
- Wake Up Yesterday by Linda Gauthier
- Feel by Kate Marshall Flaherty