John Newlove Poetry Award
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
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Rob Friday - Manatee
Rob Friday is a member of the Temagami First Nation in Northern Ontario. A painter and poet, Rob developed his unique style of art and writing while attending the Technical Theatre Program at Humber College in Toronto. He received his BA in English Literature from Laurentian University in Sudbury in 1997. While in Sudbury, Rob was an active participant in the bi-weekly open-mike poetry sessions at the Applegrove Cafe. Most notable, was the airing of his poem 'Chameleon' on CBC North Radio. "All of Robs artistic endeavours are dominated by images found in the natural world whether real or mythological, and the reconciliation of those with the 'reality' at hand." |
This year's judge was George Bowering.
The winning poem "is witty and thoughtful, mysterious and competent. It does not sacrifice prosody and notation to affect. It shows confidence and practised skill on the part of its author."
The annual John Newlove Poetry award, launched in the fall of 2004, commemorates the honest, poignant and well-written poetry of John Newlove, an Ottawa resident for almost twenty years and poet who died in 2003.
The 2 poems receiving honourable mention in 2008 are
Each year the winner will receive a certificate, A Long Continual Argument: The Selected Poems of John Newlove, Edited by Robert McTavish (Chaudiere Books, 2007) and the opportunity to publish a chapbook through Bywords.
Poems published on bywords.ca from September 2008 to August 2009 will be eligible for consideration for next year's Newlove award. The judge for the 2009 award will be Stephanie Bolster.