By Tami Reynolds
I suspect Rabindranath Tagore would have appreciated the poems read at the awards ceremony held by the Manitoba Writers’ Guild on June 6, 2025. The ceremony celebrated the winning poetry in the Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition in the second year of a five-year sponsorship by Dr. Kamal Malaker. His brother, Parimal Malakar, has donated trophies, medals and beautiful traditional golden silk scarves each year.
Dr. Malaker embodies the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, the renowned poet and philosopher known as the Bard of Bengal. The Bard inspired generations in India and around the world through his thoughts, words, and deeds. His much-acclaimed work ‘Gitanjali’, published in English as “Song Offerings”, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for ‘his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought … a part of the literature of the West.” Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in any category.
The competition finalists shared poetry’s timeless ability to touch the speaker and the listener. They did so in poems crafted within the 50-line limit. This year’s theme was Hybrid Identity: how we negotiate our multiple upbringings to fit the spaces in between.
Now living in the Canadian Prairies, Sean Philips said in his first-place poem, “Rhodesia,” “When I was a child, / I was made of Africa.” Listeners were lulled by the purple blossoms dropping from the Jacarandas, the ring of a little brass bell and the sweetness of milky tea in the polite colonial world, only to be shocked by the harsh underlying reality of violent encounters.
Taryn Fenez, a queer bilingual artist, shared her second-place poem, “1950, 1980, 2020.” She found that her body language changed as she seamlessly shifted between French and English. She aptly expressed differences in power and culture embedded in the spoken language. This might not always be apparent if the written words are read and not spoken.
The third-place poem, “Oh, Dear Cat Lady,” was read by Christopher Parker on behalf of Jennifer Tesoro (T.J. Evangelista). The observational poem “sheds a socio-cultural lens on the everyday interactions and juxtapositions that constantly clash.”
Mitchell Toews’ poem, an honourable mention, caused chuckles over its title, “This Older Dude Over at Conchita’s Up North Main This Morning.” But the poem offered a potent wisdom “… I’m damn sure God doesn’t care whether / you got a male soul or a female soul… so long as you got a kind soul.”
“Still,” a second honourable mention, was recited on behalf of Julia Rempel, a spiritual health practitioner. Her poem brought the speaker and the audience to tears “with her promise / never to let the child go / still.”
Paul Morris, Professor of English Literature at St. Boniface University, spoke on behalf of the judges about the privilege of reviewing the 33 entries.
Nathalie Kaboha was awarded a scarf for her outstanding work organizing the inaugural 2024 competition.
Sharon Hamilton, Master of Ceremonies, captured the evening. She said, “Imagined and funded by one of our Directors, Kamal Malaker, and designed and operationalized last year by one of our members, Nathalie Kaboha, and managed this year by Christiane Dunia, the Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition embraces and embodies the Guild’s goals for inclusion, equity and diversity.” The supporting cast of judges and Guild volunteers was thanked for their help in making this Guild event a success.
The winning poems can be explored at Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition – Manitoba Writers’ Guild.