Broadsheet Contest

Broadsheet Contest 2023 Winner: Tham Luang Cave Rescue by Pujita Verma

Congratulations to Pujita Verma, winner of the 2022-2023 Broadsheet Contest!

Poem title: Tham Luang Cave Rescue Poet name: Pujita Verma Poem: editors note: This poem is set right justified. moments my fingers hover over your unopened messages, things I want to tell you become my monsoon. I finally saw the film. you know the one about the trapped soccer team & the world that swarmed to the cave to pull honey from the heart’s wound? that one. true story. I was making tea when divers first discovered the bodies. I mean, the boys (they were found alive) & I was licking gold syrup off my fingers. been years since the divers brought them back (alive, yes, but conscious? not exactly) & I can’t stop thinking about the boys sticking to higher ground & they kept climbing further & you told me how long it took, for the fields to finally forgive the farmers, for letting them flood. (I wonder if you know I’ve been treading water. you are in growing season). families were camped in the mouth of the hive & others split. dared to step into the stomach. you tell me years ago your father followed the allegory, as divers pressed between two walls & found footing to climb further. I think necessity paves the way for all the strength someone could ever have. there’s so much I want to tell you, & nothing that I need to. searching for you might just cave inside of me. everything always ends with the body. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Pujita Verma Winner of the 2022 Broadsheet Contest from the League of Canadian Poets. Pujita Verma is an Indo-Canadian Poet & Illustrator. She was Mississauga’s Youth Poet Laureate (2018-2020), a Poetry In Voice National Finalist, and was recently longlisted for Palette Poetry’s Love & Eros Prize. Her work embraces themes of resilience and silence, culture and connection, memory, and matters of the heart. Pujita recently completed her BA in Political Science at Western University and works for the humanitarian organization War Child Canada.

What is a broadsheet? By definition, a broadsheet is a large piece of paper printed with information on one side only. In the world of poetry, a broadsheet is a great format in which to share or showcase one stand-out poem – winning this contest will surely do both! 

The winner of the Broadsheet contest will receive $300, publication in the 2023 Poem In Your Pocket Day Booklet, and a special broadsheet of their poem handcrafted by artist Briar Craig. 

Closed.

Meet the Broadsheet Artist
Briar Craig is a printmaking professor at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.  He has an MFA in printmaking from the University of Alberta.  His recent work focuses on the interplay between imagery and text.  Taking Roland Barthes’ Death of the Author as a starting point he plays with the idea that we are all the authors of the works we see by juxtaposing a number of disparate elements in order to create narrative, interpretive opportunities for the viewer.

Meet the Juror
Hollay Ghadery is a multi-genre writer living in rural Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in various literary journals and magazines, including The Malahat Review, Room, CAROUSEL, THIS, The Antigonish Review, Grain, and The Fiddlehead. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions’ MiroLand imprint in Spring 2021. Her debut collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, is due out with Radiant Press in spring 2023.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Poems must be previously unpublished (in print OR online) and no longer than 40 lines.    
  • You may submit one (1) poem per entry fee.   
  • Fees are $5 for League members and $10 for non-members.
  • You may submit multiple times, but please note the submission fee applies to each submission.
  • Eligible to Canadian poets and poets living and working in Canada

Check our Past winners of the Broadsheet Contest