Library Services Update
HPL is recovering from the City of Hamilton's cybersecurity-related incident, which began Sunday February 25 and continues today. Learn more.
- Public computers are available at all branches. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) computers are not available.
- Printing is available at all branches.
- Photocopying and scanning is available at all branches except at Westdale and Concession.
- Public Wi-Fi is available at all branches.
- Makerspace services are available at select locations.
Contact Library Staff at 289-779-7588, hpl.ca or askus@hpl.ca. Check hpl.ca/events for programs and hpl.ca/hours for open hours.
2023 Power of the Pen Winners
Congratulations to the 2023 Awardees and Honourable Mentions on their literary works.
Poetry
Age 12
1st - Alexis Pereira, Right to Education
2nd - Olivia Haas, Forest in Summer
Age 13
1st – Trinity Oruebor, My Beautiful Ebony
2nd – Danika Thorne, Perfect
Honourable Mentions:
Claire Hunter, Star Lost
Karen Chen, Uncertainty
Annie Grace Ntumba Buzangu, A Special Kind Of Love.
Simone Bremer, Growing Up
Age 14
1st - Rhiann Hogben, Gossip Gardens
2nd – Ellora Stewart, I Never Thought I'd Be That Girl
Honourable Mentions:
Nam Hai Ha, I Am
Marie Njoroge, Space
Age 15
1st – Chloe Joyner, A Book Like Me
2nd - Arnold Fu, Ashes To Ashes: Odes to a Shattered World
Honourable Mentions:
Selina Hazin, Until the Next Time
Ella Meyer, Reflections
Alec Aird, Chemical Reactions of the Soul
Age 16
1st – Stephanie Jean Pierre, How to Crochet
2nd – Liam Brennan, The Dread of a Poet
Age 17
1st – Len Lu, Pretend
2nd- Tegwen Park, The Blank Page
Honourable Mentions:
Mona Siyad, Failed Marionette
Age 18
1st - Kezia Hart, In Envy of Icarus
2nd- Mha Al Sawadi, Lines in the Sand
Honourable Mentions:
Emily Marshall, Devour me, Father.
Sarah Reid, My Age: A Rave.
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Poetry (French)
1st – Len Lu, Juste Des Fantomes
2nd – Simone Bremer, L'Ete
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Short Story
Age 12
1st - Lucy Ye-Eun Jung, The Path to Freedom
2nd - Brinley Proper, An Unexpected Battle
Honourable Mentions:
Alyvia van der Heiden, A black Loyalists Journey
Lora Veenstra, Speak
Jacob Veldpaus, The Battle of Queenston Heights
Grace Kikkert, The Diary of Cathrine Rose Alden
Faith Pamplin, The Beavers
Olivia Haas, Celestia
Age 13
1st – Sarah Jayne Harsevoort, Together We Fight
2nd – Maya Mabayyed, 494
Honourable Mentions:
Kristina Speelman, The Story of Simon LeBlane: Acadian Expulsion
Thomas Luong, Flowers in Vases
Tea Grozev, Halloween
Teodora Jovicevic, The Mumbling Woods
Zainab Shoaib, Message in a Bottle
Age 14
1st – Violet Brauen, Parasites
2nd – Lanya Fitoski, The Diary of Gabby Calloway
Honourable Mentions:
Griffin Dekker, Free as a Bird
Phoebe Mecca, Crotchpot
Maddyson Hunter, The Devil's Bargain
Emily Vaillancourt, The Legend of the Stone Horse
Age 15
1st – Lennex Maley, Who We Are
2nd - Charlotte Needham-Robbins, The Secret Goldfish
Age 16
1st – Olivia Belrose, The Glass World
2nd – Razan Shahrouri, Made with Love
Honourable Mentions:
Angeline Strumas, The Astronaut, The Researcher, And The Professor
Age 17
1st – Len Lu, Memories of a Railroad Worker
2nd - Chaim Evans, I don't believe in "The End"
Honourable Mentions:
Sage Rosamond, Fly Away (but come back to me)
Olivia Gringhuis, The Harmonicist
Joshua Middleton, Saint Nick in Disguise
Age 18
1st – Kezia Hart, A Reminder of What is Not
2nd - Sarah Reid, Bird Seed
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Short Story (French)
1st – Len Lu, Journal de Vacances
2nd – Griffin Dekker, Antagonish, Nova Scotia
Honourable Mentions:
Joshua Middleton, Echapper Nous Meme
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The Hamilton Association Young Poet's Award Winner:
Kezia Hart, In Envy of Icarus
Maitland Banting Silver Quill Award Winner:
Lanya Fitoski, The Diary of Gabby Calloway
For previous years, please visit the Local History & Archives Department at the 3rd floor of the Central Library.
