Vote for Peterborough in YouTube poetry contest

Winning poet will go to international poetry festival in Vancouver this spring

The poet who wins "CanLip: The Great Canadian YouTube Contest" will be heading to Vancouver's Verses 2015 poetry festival in late April
The poet who wins "CanLip: The Great Canadian YouTube Contest" will be heading to Vancouver's Verses 2015 poetry festival in late April

Four of Peterborough’s spoken word artists are competing in a national competition to win a free trip to Verses 2015, an annual international poetry festival held in Vancouver in the spring.

Wes Ryan, Sasha Patterson, Jon Hedderwick, and Joshua William Butcher have submitted videos for the “CanLip: The Great Canadian YouTube Contest”.

Between February 2nd and 15th, the total number of “likes” on each video will be counted. On February 16th, a short list will be announced and judges will evaluate the submissions. The winner (along with honourable mentions) will be announced on February 23rd.

The winning poet receives a free flight to Vancouver, along with accommodation and entry into the Verses 2015 festival, which takes place from April 23rd to May 3rd. The winning video will be shown at the festival and the winner will have the option to participate in the festival as a Canadian Individual Poetry Slam storm poet.

Peterborough spoken word artists Wes Ryan, Jon Hedderwick, Sasha Patterson, and Joshua Butcher are competing in the CanLip YouTube competition
Peterborough spoken word artists Wes Ryan, Jon Hedderwick, Sasha Patterson, and Joshua Butcher are competing in the CanLip YouTube competition
The CanLip video competition is being held by the Vancouver Poetry House, which also hosts the poetry festival. Each year, the best slam poets from across Canada come to Verses to compete in the Canadian Individual Slam Championship.

Help support your local poets by giving a “thumbs up” on their videos. Each like counts as a vote for that poet.

To like a video below, play it and then hover your mouse in the upper right-hand corner and click the thumbs-up icon. Or else you can view the videos directly on YouTube and like them there (links provided below).

You need to be logged in to your Google Account (if you don’t have have a Google Account, it’s easy to create one).

Please vote and send one of our homegrown poets to Vancouver!


“Tonight is for the Trees” by Sasha Patterson


View on YouTube


“And They Are” by Sasha Patterson


View on YouTube


“The Search for Dark Matter” by Jon Hedderwick


View on YouTube


“Wrestling with Reality” by Joshua Butcher


View on YouTube


“Icarus” by Wes Ryan


View on YouTube

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Jeannine Taylor
Jeannine Taylor is the CEO, founder, and publisher of kawarthaNOW.com and a contributing writer. She's a self-professed geek and early adopter. Jeannine has over 30 years of experience in marketing, media and communications, and web development. She has been a digital media publisher for over 25 years since kawarthaNOW.com was launched online as Quid Novis in 1996. Her awards include Peterborough's Business Woman of the Year in 2005, a Premier's Award nominee in 2003, and a City of Peterborough Civic Award for chairing the development of Millennium Park. She's also a vegetarian, music lover and, cultural enthusiast. Jeannine would rather be at the cottage kayaking or hanging out with @caitthebordercollie. You can follow her on Instagram @wired_woman or on Twitter @wiredwoman.