On January 16. 2022, the Vancouver-themed poetry contest was launched with an online event moderated by the Vancouver Poet Laureate that featured local poets Joanne Arnott, Junie Desil, Kevin Spenst, Evelyn Lau, and Alex Leslie through the Vancouver Public Library. This was followed by a live workshop facilitated by the Vancouver Poet Laureate held at Vancouver’s historic Mountain View Cemetery with Pandora’s Writing Collective, as well as an online workshop with Heritage Vancouver. Posters were disseminated to local high schools, community centres, seniors centres and neighbourhood houses. The Vancouver Poet Laureate also held a free, online, public “Crafting Poems about Place” workshop through the Vancouver Public Library.
Of the over 250 wonderful poems submitted for the contest by youth, emerging poets and established poets about historical, cultural or ecological sites within the City of Vancouver, 27 were chosen as finalists by three judges, Dr. Bonnie Nish (youth category), David Ly (emerging poet category), and Rachel Rose (established category).
Map 1: Google Map indicating the locations for the eligible poems submitted to the City Poems Contest. Blue pins for Youth category; red pins for Emerging Poets category; yellow pins for Established Poets category. Click on the coloured pins for details of each site.
Map 1: Google Map indicating the locations for each poem. Click on the coloured pins for details of each site.
Below are the 27 shortlisted poems in the Youth, Emerging Poets, and Established Poets categories, with links to the poems. Poems are listed by category in alphabetical order by last name. The three judges were Dr. Bonnie Nish (youth category), David Ly (emerging poet category), and Rachel Rose (established category).
(Not all the shortlisted poems by the emerging and established poets from 2022 were on the Eligible List of Poems 2023 for the video poetry stage of the contest (Stage 2). Some did not wish to participate in the video project. Youth poets could participate in a workshop to make their own poetry videos.)
🔵 Youth (Grade 12 or younger)
- Patricia Chen, “Lost in Chinatown”
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem
- Katie Evans, “Revival”
- Location: Pacific Spirit Park | Read the Poem
- Isabel Hernandez-Cheng, “Lotus Flower” 🥈2nd PLACE
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Debbie Li, “Lightless Fireflies”
- Location: Ancient Musqueam of the c̓əsnaʔəm, 1404 SW Marine Dr. | Read the Poem
- Ya Xin Lu, “BBQ Meat Shops” [NOTE: POEM NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE POETRY VIDEO CONTEST]
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem
- Nazifa Nawal, “Khupkhahpay’ay*: A Found Poem”
- Location: Grandview Woodland neighbourhood | Read the Poem
- Sharon Pan, “Home at Vie’s” 🥉 3rd PLACE
- Location: Hogan’s Alley | Read Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Crystal Peng, “In Google Maps, I explore Chinatown for the First Time”
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem
- Alice Stanciu, “The Town Where Time Stops”
- Location: Gastown, Byrnes Block | Read the Poem
- Adrian Yue, “ending credits for an ending of ‘chinatown'” 🥇 1st PLACE
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
🔴 Emerging Poets
- Christina Barber, “Victory Square Lament”
- Location: Victory Square | Read the Poem
- Sandra Bruneau, “Alma”
- Location: Alma Street, which runs north-south from English Bay to West 16th Avenue on the west side of the city | Read the Poem
- Max (Harper) Campbell, “Near Commercial”
- Location: Commercial Drive | Read the Poem
- Jeremy Chu, “Entertainment” 🥇 1st PLACE
- Location: The former Marco Polo Restaurant, 90 East Pender St. | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- James Kim,“An Existence That We Can Call Home”
- Location: The First Narrows, by what is now known as Lions Gate Bridge | Read the Poem
- Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li, “The Garden, Echoes I”
- Location: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden | Read the Poem
- Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li, “The Garden, Echoes II”
- Location: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden | Read the Poem
- Angela May, single mother on hastings
- Location: 324 Powell Street (The Lion Hotel), East Hastings, and the wider Downtown Eastside, especially via personal and familial memory | Read the Poem
- Theresa Rogers, the stone artist 🥈2nd PLACE
- Location: Stanley Park Seawall | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Donna Seto, Contrasts 🥉 3rd PLACE
- Location: Chinatown | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
🟡 Established Poets
- Susan Alexander, “Sen̓áḵw” 🥇 1st PLACE
- Location: Seńákw commonly known as Vanier Park | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Kelsey Andrews, “To the Otter Who Snuck into the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden and Ate the Koi” 🥉 3rd PLACE
- Location: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden | Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Julie Emerson, “Stanley Park Fir”
- Location: Stanley Park | Read the Poem
- Evelyn Lau, “Atmospheric River” [NOTE: POEM NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE POETRY VIDEO CONTEST]
- Location: Sunset Beach | Read the Poem
- Barbara Pelman, “Congregation Beth Israel”
- Location: Congregation Beth Israel, 989 West 28th Ave, off Oak Street | Read the Poem
- Leslie Timmins, “The Modest Contribution of Babies to the Protest at the Member of Parliament’s Office” 🥈2nd PLACE
- Location: Khatsahlano Beach (known as Kitsilano Beach) and a protest by 350.org at Broadway and Arbutus Read the Poem | Read Judge’s Remarks
- Diane Tucker, “Fat Vancouver Snow”
- Location: Norquay Park and the Carmen Rosen sculptures across the street in the 2600-block of Kingsway | Read the Poem
Map 2: Google Map indicating the locations for the 27 shortlisted poems. Click on the coloured pins for details of each site.
