In erasure poetry, the writer starts with a passage from an existing text and carves away words until a poem emerges. The result is a work that has its own life and also sheds new light on the source passage. For the Geist contest, entrants started with a passage from Roughing It in the Bush, a nineteenth-century Canadian classic by Susanna Moodie.

And the winners are...:

Top Prizes:

1st Prize:
“My Word” by Karen Press

2nd Prize:
“A Family Gathering” by Sam Helmer

3rd Prize:
“Uncouth” by Patty Milligan

Honourable Mentions:
“Companion” by Kathryn Mockler
“Had Me At” by Raymond Nakamura

Thank you to everyone who submitted. We had so much fun reading all of the entries.

You can read the top three winners in print in Geist 83, on newsstands now!

Sign up for the Geist newsletter to receive updates on our next great writing competition: the 8th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest (deadline: February 15, 2011).