In September 2021, the BCA invited local youth aged ten to twelve to write a poem about COVID-19. Congratulations to all of the young people who found time to put their thoughts and feelings into words and submit a poem!
The BCA is proud to announce that the first place winner of the BCA Youth Poetry Prize 2021 is Ivy Wynne for her poem “Unexpected.” Ivy attends Emily Carr Middle School. She will collect a $75 cash prize.
We are also pleased to announce the following winning poems: “We Shall Not Fall” by Nura Rowhani; “Stronger Together” by Amber Chu; “La Pandémie pour moi” by Shanika Parent and “Numbers on a Screen” by Chloe Tang. Each of these budding young poets will receive a cash prize of $25.
Each of the eighteen poems submitted was reviewed and scored by a panel of four independent judges. The panel of judges included well known local poets Alice Green, Courtney Symons, Khaleefa ‘Apollo the Child’ Hamdan and Margaret Cook. All of these individuals graciously shared their time, expertise and love of poetry to support the contest and the BCA extends a big thank you to each of them!