Past winner David Martin gives 4 reasons you should enter the CBC Poetry Prize
The prize is accepting submissions until May 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET
The 2023 CBC Poetry Prize is currently open for submissions.
You have until May 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit your original, unpublished poem or collection of poems, up to 600 words in length. There is no minimum word requirement.
The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, a cultural hub on Toronto Island. Last year's CBC Poetry Prize winner was P.E.I. poet Bren Simmers for her poetry collection Spell World Backwards.
Back in 2014, David Martin won the CBC Poetry Prize for his poem Tar Swan. In 2018, Tar Swan became a published book-length narrative poem that explores the process of oil extraction through the voices for four characters living and working on the Alberta oil sands.
Martin talked to CBC Radio's Mainstreet NS about why Canadian poets should consider entering the CBC Poetry Prize.
1. It'll help refine your work
David says: "I originally had a larger manuscript, which had more story and more characters. When I was preparing for the CBC Poetry Prize, I had to distil that down into a smaller version that would meet the requirements for the word count.
It can help you present the very best version of the poem that you can create.
"It was difficult to come up with a way to give readers a sense of the arc of the story, the images and the metaphors. It can help you present the very best version of the poem that you can create."
2. You'll look at your writing with new eyes
David says: "It can be nerve-wracking to send out your work. Oftentimes, you are working on these poems by yourself, privately; maybe you have one or two people read it and give some feedback.
I'm looking at my poems more critically.
"But it can be a good process to send your work out to a literary journal or a prize. I found that I suddenly see my poems in a different light when I'm preparing to send them out. I'm looking at my poems more critically."
3. It introduces your work to new audiences
David says: "It can bring a broader audience to your work, and that's a wonderful thing. Amy Brandon, a composer in Nova Scotia, had read my work on the CBC and contacted me.
It can bring a broader audience to your work, and that's a wonderful thing.
"She used the poem for a musical composition she was writing. That was an amazing opportunity that I wouldn't have had otherwise."
4. The winner's writing residency is unforgettable
David says: "You're in an environment surrounded by other people that are working on their own creative projects.
I got a lot of work done and started a new project. That was one of the best aspects of the prize.
"So it's just this nice energy to the space and just to have that time — those 10 days — to really focus on your work. You can kind of block out a lot of the noise from your day-to-day life and just focus on your writing and your creative practice.
"That was really amazing. I got a lot of work done and started a new project. That was one of the best aspects of the prize."
David Martin's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
