A few Jasper poets—as well as a travelling wordsmith from New Jersey—shared their words during an open mic at the SnowDome Coffee Bar, March 2, in a bid to win the Mayor’s Poetry Challenge.
Jasper has participated in the challenge for the past five years, annually hosting an open mic to select one local poet to present their work before council.
But this year, the randomly selected judges from the crowd—myself included—couldn’t choose one clear winner and instead awarded the prize to both John Strugnell and Stephen Nelson, both of whom have won the challenge in the past—Strugnell in 2013 and Nelson in 2015.
Strugnell was recognized for his poem titled Love by Light and Nelson for his poem titled Change. Both poems can be heard during the March 15 council meeting.
The open mic poetry night was organized by Jasper Habitat for the Arts in collaboration with the Mayor’s Poetry Challenge, which was originally extended by the mayor of Regina. It has since been taken over by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
The goal is to celebrate poetry, as well as raise awareness of the contribution poets and writers make to our country.
Mayor Richard Ireland—a wordsmith in his own right—joined in the fun March 2, taking the spotlight to read a short limerick about Jasper winters and granted the evening’s judges permission to select two winners.
Nicole Veerman
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