Montreal International
Poetry Prize winners read at Arts Court
A group of young Montrealers surprised the poetry world last
year by offering a prize of $50,000 for a single poem in English by anyone in
the world, promising that the competition would become an annual event, funded
mainly by entry fees. In addition to the big prize, an anthology of 50
short-listed poems was to be published, as well as a broadsheet designed by a
prominent artist to illustrate one of the short-listed poems chosen by the artist.
On Saturday, April 28, in the midst of the Ottawa
International Writers Festival, the two winners arrived in Ottawa on the last
leg of their reading tour. Grand-prize winner Mark Tredinnick of Sydney, Australia,
and broadsheet prize winner Linda
Rogers of Victoria, B.C., read at ArtsCourt.
Well-known Canadian poet Linda Rogers gave a brief reading,
including an excerpt from her novel The
Empress Letters. In her characteristic lush, elegant language, Rogers
revisited some horrific episodes in recent history, especially involving a
violence against women. While she apologized to the audience for the lack of
comic relief, she made the point that it is important to witness the
devastating effect that violence has on the lives of everyone involved.
Mark Tredinnick’s reading included many topical references
and a “political” poem about his country’s exclusionary policies toward
refugees, but he argued that the chief social role of poetry may be to counteract
the rhetoric of politics by directing attention back to the constants of the
physical world, family and love. A former lawyer and a lecturer on
environmental law. Tredinnick came rather late to poetry, and in the past
decade has established himself as a major voice in Australian poetry. His
prize-winning poem, however, is based on his first trip to North America, last
year.
The Ottawa audience warmed to Tredinnick’s vigorous yet
reflective poems, both his preferred long-line meditations on the natural world
and his occasional syllable-counting lyrics. Apart from a few unfamiliar words
– antipodean animals and trees, for instance – his idiomatic writing seemed
approachable and familiar to his Canadian audience. And he graciously opened
his session by reading poems by others: the Australian poet Debbie Lim (who
told him about the Montreal contest), and Canadian poet Jan Zwicky.
Tredinnick mentioned how pleased he was that five Australian
poets had been selected (by Andrew Motion in a blind judging) for the Global Poetry Anthology. Another three
of the short-listed poets were also included, and they opened the evening with
brief readings of their own. Congratulations to Peter Richardson, Barbara
Myers, and Maria
Borys.
The Montreal International
Poetry Prize is intended to be repeated annually, and its launch must be
judged a big success. Winner Mark Tredinnick did comment, however, that there
is room for improvement. For instance, nothing was set aside to promote the
winners or the prize anthology, so Tredinnick and Rogers had to organize and
finance their own cross-Canada tour by train. The little-publicized reading
would also have benefited from being associated with the OIWF, which was
happening across town at the same time. Fifty thousand dollars for a single
poem, and he still rates the prize “could do better”? Well, yes. Tredinnick is
equally demanding of us own work; the winning poem is not his favorite of the
ones he sent in to the contest. No doubt, he will try to do better next time.
l
, -w
