An intimate group of Jasperites gathered together at the SnowDome Coffee Bar, March 31, to share in an evening of poetry and compete for the opportunity to read in front of council.
Following an hour of wordplay, including songs, haikus and a multi-voiced piece accompanied by a drum, Stephen Nelson was named this year’s winner of the Mayor’s Poetry Challenge.
His poem “Jasper Paradise” was selected by Dave Baker of Jasper Habitat for the Arts, high school teacher Lauren Kennedy and myself, as the best of the evening.
Nelson’s beautifully crafted prose spoke of Jasper’s beauty, as well as its changing face due to climate change. It can be found in its entirety alongside this article and will be read in council April 7.
Four other poets participated in the challenge. Jim Bottomley, who won last year, read three pieces, including one about camping in the fall titled “Loons on the Lake” and another about our fear of travel because of the near-constant barrage of negative news about far away lands.
“The world is full of monsters,” he wrote, “and we’re scared to go outside.
“If we all went travelling together, the monsters would die inside.”
Paula Klassen, who won the Raven About the Arts Award for writing last fall, also took to the stage, reading a poem that, with the use of a drum and two voices, parallel’s the feeling of holding her sleeping newborn baby with the the memory of visiting a genocide memorial site in Rwanda.
Tom Price was another of the evening’s participants. The singer-songwriter read one poem and also sang a number of his original songs, including a tribute to English guitarist John Renbourn who passed away last month.
Barb Schmidt, a former Jasper Junior/Senior High School teacher and the new Palisades Education Liaison, also spoke, reading a poem about that transition in her career, as well as having her son graduate and move out.
The open mic poetry night was organized by Jasper Habitat for the Arts and the Jasper Municipal Library, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Poetry Challenge.
April marks National Poetry Month.
To keep the celebration going, the library is hosting its Patron’s Choice Poetry Contest.
Jasperites are invited to submit up to three poems by April 17. Those poems will then be on display at the library from April 18 to 29. During that time, patrons of the library will be invited to read the submitted works and pick their favourite.
The winner, who will receive $50 from the Jasper Friends of the Library, will be announced on April 30.
Nicole Veerman
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