Poet’s Pause poetry competition winners announced

Publication Date: April 11, 2022

poetspause

Victoria Crompton and Diana Joy were announced as the winners of the 2022 Poet’s Pause competition at the April 5 Council meeting. The poems were read by Mayor Jack Crompton. 

  • Victoria Crompton’s “Seppo” was selected for the theme Listening. 
  • Diana Joy’s “Someone” was selected for the theme Togetherness.  

The two winning poems will be displayed at the Poet’s Pause sculpture sites in Alta Lake Park over the upcoming year. “Someone” will be displayed alongside the giant Adirondack chairs titled Lakeside Couple at the south end of the park, and “Seppo” will be displayed with the large metal chimes titled Lost in Sound at the north end. The winners also receive a prize of $200 each.  

This year marks the tenth annual Poet’s Pause poetry competition. In February and March each year the Resort Municipality of Whistler invites the public to submit original, unpublished poems for the themes of Togetherness and Listening. The program is part of a public art concept created by the late Joan Baron, an artist who developed the two Alta Lake Park sculpture sites with the intention of inspiring creativity.  

This year’s competition received 31 poems from 16 poets residing in Whistler, the Sea to Sky corridor, the Lower Mainland and beyond. The jury selected the winning poems through an anonymous judging process, and the winning names were submitted the month before the Council meeting.   

To read this year’s winning poems and view past winners, visit whistler.ca/poetrycompetition