Got Poem? It’s that time of the year again… Time, that is, to send your poem into the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library for display in the library’s annual Poem Gallery.
I coordinate the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library Poem Gallery each year, along with Customer Service Librarian Anthony Martin.
The Poem Gallery is changed each April during National Poetry Month. The poems are displayed in the large picture windows facing onto Diana Krall Plaza (90 Commercial Street), where they are read by passers-by throughout the year.
ELIGIBILITY: Participation is open to anyone who lives in a community served by a branch of Vancouver Island Regional Library (a region that extends from Haida Gwaii to Sooke).
DEADLINE: March 15, 2013
THEME: This year’s theme is “Messages from Planet Earth”.
So use your imagination, folks! If extraterrestrial beings travelled to Earth, and their only point of contact with us was the Poem Gallery display at the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library, what would they learn about our planet and our culture from our poems in the window?
And more importantly, what do we want to tell alien beings about life here on our planet? Say it in a poem, and let that be your “message from planet earth”. A focus on environment and the natural world would be nice. But we too are a part of nature. So your poem-message from planet earth can cover pretty much any aspect of existence on this planet.
RULES:
1. Submit no more than two poems per person by March 15, 2013.
2. Each poem must fit on a single sheet of paper (8.5×11 inches) when the font is enlarged to 14 point, Times New Roman. The shorter the better!
3. Give your poem a title and put your name on it.
4. Email your poem as a Word document to Anthony Martin at: amartin@virl.bc.ca
5. You must live in a community served by a branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library.
6. Previously published poems are fine.
UNVEILING: Everyone is welcome to attend the official unveiling of the 2013 Poem Gallery on Sunday, April 7, 1:00 pm at the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library. Poets featured in the gallery will read their poems. Light refreshments will be served.
Here are some photos from last year’s unveiling party.
May the metaphors be with you!
Kim Goldberg
Pig Squash Press 
Thanks to your blog I could look up the poem gallery submission guidelines. Your public service is more public than virl. 🙂
Haha! That’s true though. 🙂 See you at the launch, Leanne. 🙂