Share your story!
The Cowichan Foundation is proud to present our 5th annual youth poetry contest, the MC Visual Poetry Competition & Film Festival.
The 2026 contest is now open! This year’s submission deadline is April 13th at 8pm.
The contest is open to high school aged students in the Cowichan area and requires submitting a 1-3 minute video performing or illustrating an original poem, along with a copy of the written work. The top 4 students receive cash prizes!
Explore this page to see background information, contest details, and this year’s criteria. Be sure to peruse our archive of previously featured entries.
This year’s film festival will be held on May 21 at VIU Cowichan. We will screen the top ten entries from this year’s contest, enjoy live poetry and guest speakers, and award our contest winners LIVE!
All ages welcome, though viewer discretion is advised due to potentially sensitive subject matter. Tickets are $15 plus fees, available below. Limited quantities! Finalists will be personally invited to ensure their seats.
Doors open at 6:30, event starts at 7. There will be a complimentary reception to follow at Just Jake’s Restaurant (around 9pm) with snacks and refreshments.
This competition is inspired by the late Michael Coleman (MC), founder of the Cowichan Foundation, husband, father, lawyer, mayor, early adopter of reconciliation, community leader, and avid poet. He believed in the power of storytelling and published multiple books of poetry in his lifetime. By uplifting the voices of our youth in this competition, we aim to honour his legacy of beautiful poetry and unequivocal service to the Cowichan Valley while supporting the leaders of tomorrow.
The contest is open to high school aged students in the Cowichan Valley and Ganges areas. Students must submit a 1-3 minute video performing or illustrating their original poetry, along with a short biography and a written copy of their work. As visual poetry, the visual content included must work to enhance the experience of the poem. Contestants will be judged on their submission as a whole, with both the written work as well as the video being scored.
This competition is open to all themes – no topic is off limits; however, vulgar, homophobic racist, sexist, or ableist content will not be permitted. We will also not accept any videos or poems produced solely with AI.
Make us think! Get creative! We look forward to seeing what the students have in store for us this year.
Click below to see full contest criteria.
Click the button below to submit your contest entry (requires Google sign-in).
Be sure to read the full criteria before doing so. Please note the maximum file size for a video is 10GB but it is highly encouraged to keep below 2GB.
Questions? Email info@cowichanfoundation.com
Thank you to all who joined us at our very first Film Festival event with live awards! We were honoured to see such a wonderful turnout to celebrate our talented young poets. The energy in the theatre and at the reception following was positively electric. It filled our hearts to see such joy shared over this cause. We know Mike would be proud.
Check out our archives for more information on the who & what of the film fest and to see all of the videos we showed, including at past events!
THIS YEAR’S MAJOR SPONSOR:
RBC DOMINION SECURITIES, DAN VARGA & ASSOCIATES
A TOP SPONSOR EVERY YEAR:
OTHER GENEROUS COMMUNITY DONORS:
Pemberton Holmes