JC was thrilled to receive the Order of Friendship Award from the Ottawa Public Library at the June 14, 2010 meeting of its Board. The award recognizes JC’s work as a judge for the OPL’s Awesome Authors Contest for over 6 years. As chair of the Board, Councillor Jan Harder explained in her citation, “The OPL Order of Friendship is awarded to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of outstanding volunteer contributions to the Ottawa Public Library. The individuals we are honouring this evening certainly have gone above and beyond in their volunteer efforts for the OPL.
“The Awesome Authors’ contest has been a cornerstone of children’s and teens services at the Ottawa Public Library since amalgamation. This bilingual program promotes the importance of writing for young people from ages 9 through 17.
“Each year our judges make their way through hundreds of short stories and poems to weigh their merits and award prizes and honorable mentions. The judges tell us each year that the task is enjoyable, if daunting, and they are continually amazed by the quality of the prize-winning entries. In the past four years these judges have looked at over 1400 entries.
“In addition, the judges take the time to attend our awards ceremony to personally hand out the prizes and give the audience a glimpse into why the winning entries deserved merit — teaching all present what makes a good poem or short story.”
JC has focused in recent years on the English poetry submissions from local, emerging writers and co-edited Pot Pourri, the annual anthology of winning poems and short stories published by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library (FOPLA.)
In accepting this award, JC expressed thanks for the honour and for having been given the opportunity to be involved in the OPL’s excellent annual contest.”It’s both a challenge and a privilege to read the submissions: a privilege, because of the creativity demonstrated by these young poets; and a challenge to choose the winning entries from among so many original submissions. I look forward every year to the surprises between the lines.!”
JC Honoured by Ottawa Public Library
“The Awesome Authors’ contest has been a cornerstone of children’s and teens services at the Ottawa Public Library since amalgamation. This bilingual program promotes the importance of writing for young people from ages 9 through 17.
“Each year our judges make their way through hundreds of short stories and poems to weigh their merits and award prizes and honorable mentions. The judges tell us each year that the task is enjoyable, if daunting, and they are continually amazed by the quality of the prize-winning entries. In the past four years these judges have looked at over 1400 entries.
“In addition, the judges take the time to attend our awards ceremony to personally hand out the prizes and give the audience a glimpse into why the winning entries deserved merit — teaching all present what makes a good poem or short story.”
JC has focused in recent years on the English poetry submissions from local, emerging writers and co-edited Pot Pourri, the annual anthology of winning poems and short stories published by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library (FOPLA.)
In accepting this award, JC expressed thanks for the honour and for having been given the opportunity to be involved in the OPL’s excellent annual contest.”It’s both a challenge and a privilege to read the submissions: a privilege, because of the creativity demonstrated by these young poets; and a challenge to choose the winning entries from among so many original submissions. I look forward every year to the surprises between the lines.!”
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