Fourth Annual Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize
In the spirit of beloved Sarnia poet Carmen Ziolkowski, The Lawrence House Literary Arts Committee is again seeking well-crafted poetry that is heartfelt, nature-based, and hopeful for the fourth annual Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize. The deadline is April 30, 2025.
With generous support from the Ziolkowski family, this year’s first prize is $500. Second prize is $250, and third prize is $100, with selected Honourable Mentions.
Over seventy poems were submitted last year from across Canada and abroad, and first prize was awarded to Katharine Weinmann, a poet from Alberta, Canada, for her insightful poem “Contemplating the Cherry Tree.”
Second prize, $250, and third prize, $100, were respectively awarded to Sarnia, Canada, poets Emily Fortney for in “Every Day (A Love Letter from Lake Huron to Us)” and Grace Vermeer for in “The Rain.”
Carmen Ziolkowski was born near Naples, Italy, in 1924, and immigrated to Canada in 1955. She studied journalism at Port Huron Junior College and taught creative writing at Lambton College. Her books of poetry include Roses Bloom at Dusk (Vesta Publications), World of Dreams (River City Press), and The Moon Before the Sun (Beret Days Press).
She and her husband Bruno had two sons, Robin and Jim, and three grandchildren, Alexandra, Nicholas, and Samantha. She loved her family, nature, travel, and literature. A vibrant member of the Sarnia-Lambton writing community, Carmen passed away on December 26, 2018, at the age of 94.
Carmen’s friends and fellow writers Ryan Gibbs and Lois Nantais are delighted to serve again as judges for the poetry prize. Judging will be blind.
Ryan Gibbs is a Communications professor at Lambton College who has published over fifty poems, in nine countries. His poems inspired by Carmen include “Do Not Bring Me Flowers (for Carmen)” in Subterranean Blue Poetry and “The House of Four Winds,” Honourable Mention in the Association of Italian Canadian Writers’ Venera Fazio Poetry Contest.
Lois Nantais is a Psychology professor at Lambton College. She often uses poetry in her interpersonal communication and ethics courses through insight-based narrative tools for personal development. Her poems have been published in Lummox, Tamaracks, Ascent Aspirations, and Room Magazine.
Winning works in this year’s poetry prize will be featured in a special issue of The Lawrence House’s Uproar Literary Blog.
Entry fees are $10 (for three poems), $5 for members of The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts. Full contest details and past winning poems are available at https://lawrencehouse.ca/carmen-ziolkowski-poetry-prize/