Two Girls by A. Light Zachary
CBC Books | | Posted: November 10, 2021 2:30 PM | Last Updated: November 10, 2021
2021 CBC Poetry Prize longlist
A. Light Zachary has made the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Two Girls.
Zachary is also on the longlist for Why bury yourself in this place you ask.
The winner of the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize 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 the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.
The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 18 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 24.
If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the CBC Nonfiction Prize opens in January and the CBC Poetry Prize opens in April.
About A. Light Zachary
A. Light Zachary is a writer, editor and teacher. They were awarded a fellowship in poetry by the Lambda Literary Foundation and a writing studio fellowship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Their new chapbook, I build it better, will be released in late 2021. Zachary is autistic and bigender. They live between Toronto and Grande-Digue, N.B.
Entry in five-ish words
"Eggs collide, but don't crack."
The poem's source of inspiration
"To survive my conservative all boys high school, I had to smother and neglect my queer, bigender reality. In the years after leaving that environment and beginning to understand myself, many of my former friends came out as transgender or non-binary, too.
I often think about how sad and beautiful it was for us to find each other in friendship and in love before we knew who we were or what was drawing us together.
"I often think about how sad and beautiful it was for us to find each other in friendship and in love before we knew who we were or what was drawing us together. This is not an autobiographical poem, but it was inspired by that experience."
First lines
Somewhere, two girls are kissing for the first time
on the bathroom floor in a dark suburban basement.
They are both pretending to be boys
for one another, for themselves, for everyone
but they are two girls, kissing for the first time
on the bathroom floor in a dark suburban basement
while classmates, holding beery teenage piss,
bang on the door and urge them hurry.
on the bathroom floor in a dark suburban basement.
They are both pretending to be boys
for one another, for themselves, for everyone
but they are two girls, kissing for the first time
on the bathroom floor in a dark suburban basement
while classmates, holding beery teenage piss,
bang on the door and urge them hurry.
About the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize
The winner of the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.
The 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January. The 2022 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April.