Fredericton’s poet laureate, Jordan Trethewey, the City of Fredericton and the Fredericton Public Library are launching a unique poetry challenge called “Ode to Your Postal Code” in celebration of Fredericton’s 175+ anniversary.
As part of the challenge, residents are invited to write a unique, six-line poem, paying tribute to their community by using their postal code. There are three categories for submission: Kids (ages 5 to 12), Youth (ages 13 - 19), and Adult (ages 20+).
The winner of each category will receive $100 of Downtown Fredericton or Business Fredericton North dollars. The deadline to apply is 4:30 pm on Friday, July 21, 2023. Here’s how the Challenge works.
E3A 2B8
- Line 1: E - letter used to begin the first line (any length)
- Line 2: 3 - number of words in this line (three words)
- Line 3: A - letter used to begin this line (any length)
- Line 4: 2 - number of words in this line (two words)
- Line 5: B - letter used to begin this line (any length)
- Line 6: 8 - number of words in this line (eight words)
- Note: For zero, leave the line blank.
And here is an example of how the poem could read.
E3A 2B8
Even if I didn’t live here
I would dream,
always, of walking out of a house like
this one
beside a neighbour like mine, on
a street in a town such as this.
The Top 10 postal code ‘Odes’ will be displayed at Fredericton Public Library during Fredericton 175+ celebrations in August. To enter, send your poem, along with your name, age and mailing address, including your postal code to: jtpoetlaureate@outlook.com. Please include ‘Ode to Your Postal Code’ in the subject line.