Victoria Crompton and the Whistler Museum are looking for submissions to fill out a new poetry book.
Sea to Sky denizens of all ages are welcome to put forth material that describes or pays tribute to Whistler's culture, landscapes, heritage, favoured pastimes and so on. Selected poems will each be matched with a photograph from museum archives that is relevant to the work's topic, ultimately leading to a curated presentation of images and verse.
How did this idea first originate? Well, Crompton (a former English teacher and Whistler Question contributor) has authored plenty of things about local history and people. She thought to herself: there must be others interested in doing the same, so let's collect all their pieces in a single volume.
Museum executive director and curator Bradley Nichols jumped on board with the idea, and the prompt they've given members of the public is: what about Whistler inspires you?
"There's so many different angles that a person could take when looking at what inspires them," remarks Crompton. "It opens up to all kinds of different expressions, whether it's something emotional that they've experienced or something that interests them in a more cerebral way."
Nichols adds: "I think [Victoria is] really, really passionate. For previous poems that she's done, she's come in and looked through our archival holdings to craft them. I think a large number of Whistlerites moved here and wanted to stay here. What inspired them to do that? What about this place do they find intriguing and keeps them here?"
'Your biggest qualification is your love for Whistler'
There are many ways to reflect upon what gives Whistler its identity, but Crompton finds poems to be especially captivating.
"I'd say being able to distil an idea or a concept, or the way something looks, down to its essence, is what challenges me about poetry because you have to be so economical with words," she explains. "I like the challenge of that, and it suits me because I have a short attention span. The whole focus is on metaphor … you want to try and convey something by comparing it to something else, and sometimes in an unusual way that [gets people to look] at that idea or concept in a new and fresh lens."
According to Nichols, the Museum's only other collaborative project with a focus on visuals happened in 2012: an art project with students from Whistler Secondary School. This time, they aim to create a 60-page book with 30 poems and an equal number of historical images.
Crompton hopes Whistlerites won't be shy in offering up their stuff.
"I wish I had the words to inspire people to put pen to paper," she says. "Your biggest qualification is your love for Whistler: put it down on paper and we'd love to look at it. We have approached most of the schools and so on because we'd love to get young people submitting as well. Often people say things or write things down that they don't really think are particularly relevant … but they are, so it would be great to have people that don't really consider themselves poets but have strong feelings or experiences with Whistler.
"I'm submitting a lot of historical poetry, and so many people today who are living in Whistler or even lived here for a long time don't know anything about its beginnings, which are fascinating. If people read this [book] and it leads them to the museum to find out more about our beginnings, that would be a wonderful thing."
The deadline to submit poems is June 15, while the book is anticipated to publish in fall during the Resort Municipality of Whistler's 50th anniversary celebrations. All proceeds will go to the Whistler Museum Building Fund.
Visit whistlermuseum.org/whistler-museum-poetry-book to submit an entry.
