Writes of Spring in full bloom this weekend

Over 100 poets and over 500 poems – both record numbers – were submitted for the 10th annual Writes of Spring event presented by Plume Winnipeg. Now, thirteen poems will be shared by their authors at their celebration event at McNally Robinson Booksellers.  

“I’d much rather have an enormity of poetry and all those choices and all of that reading to do than trying to knit something together from fewer submissions,” laughed Writes of Spring organizer Ariel Gordon in an interview on Morning Light.  

Normally governed by a theme, the 10th anniversary edition of the competition was an open call for poets to write about what they wanted, how they wanted. “What was nice is that it was such a wide breadth of the community,” Gordon says. “So many different kinds of styles, so many different kinds of modes and thoughts and ideas and images.” 

Once the open submissions for Writes of Spring had closed, Gordon and her co-editor Charlene Diehl got together to parse out which of the poems would be selected as finalists. “When we’re reading the poems, we’re really looking to be surprised, by them, to find something short and interesting and different,” explains Gordon, noting that factors like previous participation, unique viewpoints and a range of demographics also come into play.  

“You don’t want to choose 13 of the same poem, right?” she says. “You want to choose different perspectives.” 

The Writes of Spring event that takes place on April 27 will celebrate each of the poets selected, as well as feature special guests such as Jennifer Still, the new poet laureate for the City of Winnipeg.  

For Gordon, the event will be the culmination of a process that she likens to pregnancy. “It’s hard on your body, it’s hard on your family, it’s hard on your relationship, but it’s great because you wind up with a baby, so it’s all worth it!” 

“I can’t think of a reason to stop,” she says when asked about the next ten years of Writes of Spring. “Let’s see. Let’s see how far we can go with it.” 

The Writes of Spring event takes place at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location at 2 p.m. on April 27. More information can be found at Plume Winnipeg’s website.