Bradley Alvarez has won first prize in our 2022 Janice Colbert Poetry Award.
Created by award-winning poet Janice Colbert in 2012, the Janice Colbert Poetry Award honours SCS learners who have created a piece of poetry that moves us. Janice, who is an SCS Creative Writing Certificate earner, helps us celebrate the journey towards creative discovery through her generous award. This annual honour is valued at $1,000, plus two finalist awards of $500 each.
1ST PLACE/$1,000 AWARD WINNER: Bradley Alvarez
Bradley Alvarez is a communications professional, poet, and writer living in Richmond, British Columbia. He holds a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Simon Fraser University (SFU) as well as a post-baccalaureate diploma in Communications (SFU). He loves long road trips, trudging up mountains, and spending time with his family.
FINALISTS/$500 AWARD WINNERS: Janet Lamb & Jessica Lapp
Janet Lamb was born in England, but has called three continents home. Themes of isolation and loss are prevalent in much of her work. Her poem, The Last Act, appeared in spring 2021, a Saskatchewan Writer’s Guild publication. She took her first creative writing course with the University of Toronto in 2020 and is still discovering her voice.
Jessica Lapp is an archival scholar who has recently returned to poetry after several years spent focusing on academic writing. She is interested in poetry as memory-work; as a way of evidencing and feeling the past. Jessica lives in Toronto and is pursuing a Creative Writing Certificate through SCS.
The Janice Colbert Poetry Award jury was comprised of three poets:
Jason Heroux, Kingston poet
Lillian Necakov, Toronto poet
Gillian Sze, Montreal poet