Image: Pixabay

CONGRATULATIONS to several of our members who have entered and won contests in 2016.

• Alvin Ens’s poem “The Pregnant Pause” was awarded FIRST PLACE in the 2016 Inscribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship Winter Contest for pieces published in the media in 2015.

• Alvin Ens’s story “Pumpkins” was awarded FIRST PLACE in the Royal City Literary Arts Write On! Contest, Fiction category.

• His poem “TransCanada” was awarded FIRST PLACE in The Ontario Poetry Society’s 2016 Epic Proportions Poetry Competition.

• Alvin has also entered and been awarded HONORABLE MENTION in the Canadian Stories contest in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

• Violet Nesdoly’s poem “The Longsuffering of Old Bibles” received an HONORABLE MENTION in the 2016 Utmost Poetry Contest.

• Violet Nesdoly’s blog post “Eleven Must Haves in My Toolkit” and her poem “Dangerous Secret” were both awarded a THIRD PLACE in the Inscribe Christian Writer’s Fellowship 2016 Fall Contest (Blog Post and Poetry categories).

In Loving Memory of
Elizabeth Erin Fisher

November 17, 1962 – December 10, 2016

It was with great sadness that family and friends said goodbye to Erin Fisher at a memorial service at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, December 30, 2016.

Family members and friends, many from the Fraser Valley Poets Society, shared memories and stories of Erin’s life.

It’s hard to believe that our friend and colleague, with whom we celebrated a book launch just short months ago, is gone. Erin, we will miss you!

Obituary:

Erin Fisher, 54, passed away suddenly, December 10, 2016, in Abbotsford BC.

Erin loved life and lived it with an indomitable spirit and passion. She was a poet, a writer, an artist, a drummer, a karate black belt, a philosopher, a tarot card reader. She loved the arts, music, movies, anything to enrich her life and soul and she truly enriched ours.

Erin will be forever loved and sadly missed by her father Dennis, mother Maureen (nee Tuite), brother Michael (Eileen), niece Bronwen, nephew Riley and many, many more extended family and friends. May she rest in peace.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, December 30, 2016 at 11:00 am at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church at 33333 Mayfair Avenue, Abbotsford, BC.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Image courtesy Pixabay.com

Write poems about Canada for our upcoming anthology. A word about this from our editor:

“July 1, 2016
Canada will be 149 years old.
Celebrating this birthday
may inspire you to write for the FVPS anthology.
Unfortunately, we go to publication next spring
so we will be ready for the 150th birthday;
so write now.” – Alvin Ens

What are we looking for? Details are below:

Need inspiration? Your poem about Canada might be about:

• Canadian history, geography, politics.
• Canadian holidays (your memories of them; their significance to you).
• Canadian heroes, icons, expressions.
• Canadian landmarks; your impressions or memories of visiting a place or places of importance in Canadian history.
• Your feelings about being Canadian. What things make you feel loyal, embarrassed, ashamed, apologetic, proud etc. of being Canadian?
• Canadian culture and unique things about it. (You might get ideas from Canadiana lists, such as this list of ten items, put out by Reader’s Digest, or this list of 50 facts from Canada.com)
• Misconceptions about Canada and Canadian culture.
• The smells of Canada; the colours of Canada; the sounds of Canada.
• Feelings about Canada that arise in you when when you are away from Canada.
• Use uniquely Canadian words in form poems that use repeating words (like the sestina).
• Use uniquely Canadian phrases or expressions in form poems that use repeating lines (like the triolet).
• Write a praise poem to Canada.
•  Write a birthday poem to Canada as if the country were a person.
• Or…

This list of ideas is here to spark your creativity and is in no way meant to limit how you approach writing your poems about Canada.

HAPPY WRITING – EH!