Monday, March 28, 2011

"The Montreal Prize" is created

"And the sun pours down like honey / On our lady of the harbour.*" The Globe and Mail reported today that the Montreal Prize has been created. Touted as the “World’s Largest Poetry Competition,” the prize will award $50,000 for a single poem of up to 40 lines written in English by any poet around the world, already published or not. This year, the prize money was donated anonymously; future years will require a sponsor, says Peter Abramowicz, one of the Prize’s three founders (with Len Epp and Asa Boxer). Oh, and this year's judge is Andrew Motion. Whew! Exciting! * I know, I know. Unoriginal. I just couldn't help it. But hey, there's a good discussion question - what's your favourite line of poetry about the city of Montreal?

2 comments:

  1. Montréal! Vos cuisses, vos hanches! I want to do violence to your two official languages. I want to scrape your autoroutes and arteries, press the marrow of your delicatessens through my teeth and tear apart your sainted alleyways!

    Montréal! Your danses contaces intrigue me, as the long limbs of your women excite the scars in my eyes!

    Montréal! The Poles, the Czechs! The robbed Hungarians have learned to speak your mutilated French, have learned to suck your tongue out at the root, and announce your future with encaustic hockeypucks!

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