leigh ann

2025

The John Lent Poetry/Prose Award

Poetry

carrion is a hybrid poem that uses prose poetry to create a multi-prospective exploration of the many paths one life can take. It explores resilience in the face of hardship and an unexplained drive to survive.

carrion was shortlisted for the John Lent Poetry/Prose Award 2025

Shortlist Feedback:

We were also impressed by “ode to skutic,” “carrion” and “Uninvited” and are thrilled to note each of them as truly honourable mentions. Each of these pieces hit us respectively with the powerful sensation of encountering what John has called the magical, “lateral thinking” mind. We are grateful for the opportunity to read these beautiful, singular works. This was one of the strongest shortlists in the last several years and all of the manuscripts were so assured and engaging!

I’ll be putting carrion in my back pocket for other submissions so it won’t be published here (yet).

Excerpt from The John Lent Poetry/Prose Award:

The JLPPA was created in 2012 to honour the work of its namesake, a beloved creative writing instructor and founding editor of Kalamalka Press. Since the appearance of his first poetry collection, A Rock Solid, in 1978, John has published nine books of poetry and fiction, recorded two musical albums, edited numerous titles, and mentored countless writers—emerging and well-established, alike—throughout the Okanagan Valley. His dedication to experimenting with poetic and narrative forms that explore people and their internal and external geographies, as well as his dedication to supporting new writers, are the bioelectricity that keeps the heart of this national writing competition a-pumping.

Every year, the JLPPA has found a well-crafted and meditative manuscript of poetry, prose, or a hybrid of the two from an emerging Canadian writer whose works demonstrates a consistent, plucky style and a fearless devotion to investigating their world.

The contest winner receives a $500 prize, and the manuscript is produced, under the guideance of OC instructor Jason Dewinetz, as a limited edition chapbook, hand-set in metal type and printed by students of Okanagan College’s Diploma in Writing & Publishing.