Call for great verses
From Canada far and wide
Steals the show at ‘Fest
Penn Kemp, London’s Poet Laureate, was amazed at the quality of the prose entered into the Great Canadian Haiku Project. All submissions were required to celebrate Canadian identity and culture.
“I thought the talent was extraordinary,” Kemp said. “And I was really pleased with how many Londoners succeeded (in submitting entries).”
The haiku project took place on Saturday afternoon at the Home County Folk Festival. There were 17 finalists chosen—whittled down from 85 — and each was performed on stage with musical accompaniment from select festival artists. According to Kemp, who was the head judge of the contest, the audience reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
“We got a standing ovation at the end, it was just huge,” she said. “There were hundreds of people there — it was just astonishing.”
