Poetic Injustice

Prince George has an interesting connection to books. Particularly self-published books by local authors known as chapbooks. For those who might not have seen a chapbook before, they are usually the size of a standard sheet of paper that is folded in half, and anywhere from 20-44 pages in length. It is these short, and (for the most part) creative little books that should be the centre of the currently tumultuous writing scene in Prince George. 

Currently, Prince George is host to two smaller awards for this chapbook culture: The Barry McKinnon Poerty Award, and The John Harris Short-Fiction Award. In a 2009 post on the blog "PG Pod," Graham Pearce (annual organizer of both events) was quoted as saying, "the idea for the minimum number of copies [generally around 20 copies are required for the annual Barry McKinnon/John Harris Awards and Prince George Chapbook Fair (proper title)] is getting people away from special one-offs. The chapbook is supposed to be traded and sold and reproduced easily."

This statement seems to have been lost during the past six months, due mostly to the recent division of the local writing community. While most of the local writers are still self-publishing chapbooks (many of the which seemed to have upped the ante by being well written, well structured and well produced since the division) and trading them amongst their respective circles, there have been little to no trades routes between the two camps. This is an unfortunate circumstance, as it has led to Dr. Robert Budde to request funding be cut to the annual Barry McKinnon Award and Prince George Chapbook Fair recently.

The Barry McKinnon Award itself is a $250 annual prize. The event began in 2006, and has ran for the past seven years. From 2006 until 2011, recipients of the award have received the prize money they had won, while Alex Buck, the 2012 winner, has yet to receive his award for his chapbook Ce n'est past la poesie (Ce n'est pas la poésie for the correct spelling).