NEWS RELEASE
GUELPH PUBLIC LIBRARY
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The Guelph Public Library and Rotary Club of Guelph (1920-2020) are proud to present the winning selections for The Night Sky Poetry Competition.
Over 30 entries were received in three age categories.
Wellington County teens and adults were encouraged to look to the night sky to be inspired while capturing the moment in a poem – in any style.
A sincere thank you to the volunteer judge’s Bieke Stengos, Candace Detaeye and Rob O’Flanagan, who completed the challenging task of judging these insightful poetic works.
"I was struck by how thoughtful and colourful all the entries were. How all the poets grappled with the theme and clearly worked hard to express some very deep and personal feelings and reflections. There was much beauty, intelligence, invention and craft among the submissions," shared one judge.
The following poems offer personal accounts on the current world around us – including the night sky - with such wonderful poetic devices that make their content prize worthy.
And the winners are…
Grades 7 to 9 category:
First Place of $100 to Callista Pitman, “Dictionary Definition of a Dream”
Second Place of $50 to Mirren Litchfield, “The Stars Above”
Grades 10 to 12 category:
First Place of $100 to Riley Stewart, “Messier 82 in Battle”
Adult Category:
First Place of $100 to Valerie Senyk, “The Art of the Night”
Second Place of $50 to Linda Hamel, “Headline China”
Honourable Mentions:
Kevin Yang, “Sky Chrysalis”
Jessie Witherspoon, “The Deepening Void”
Jiansen Zhang, “When One Burns Out Another is Born”
Sandy Clipsham, “Celestial Being”
Brittany Howlett, “Nacht”
Susan Honeyman, “Night Blanket”
Carol Dilworth, “The Night Sky”
Barbara Stefaniak, “Nighttime Travel”
Roger Suffling, “Seeing Black”
The Guelph Public Library would like to thank The Rotary Club of Guelph for their generous support of this poetry contest and awarding $400 in prizes. It was a highly successful online poetry contest which had people truly thinking about their current situation during these uncertain times.
As one judge commented, “I think that there is truth that we rarely stop to really admire the night sky most of the time - because light pollution makes it hard to appreciate in a city, or because we're just too busy." Enjoy reading these poetic selections on the library’s website and keep exploring the night sky for inspiration!
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