By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
From May 1 to 31, 2025, the Burlington Public Library (BPL) hosted its annual writing contest, titled “Write Here Write Now,” with submissions coming in from across the city. Entries could be in the form of a poem, short story, or comic. The contest was open to anyone age 10 or older.
The contest submissions were divided into three age groups: 10–12 years, 13–17 years, and 18 or older. The judging panel chose a winner from each age group and category, and each winner received a cash prize of $100.
The theme word for 2025’s contest was “whisper.” Contestants had to incorporate the word in some capacity into their work.
BPL received over 235 submissions and named a winner for each category and age group, with the exception of the 13–17 year old comic category, due to a lack of submissions. Burlington Local-news.ca had the opportunity to speak to some of the talented winners.
The winner for the 18 or older poetry category was Rachel Swiednicki, for her poem Now You Can Breathe.
Swiednicki said that she found out about the competition through an email from BPL.
“I pondered it for a while and thought ‘Maybe I can put something together’,” Swiednicki said. “So over a few days, I worked on a poem that was very meaningful to me about my breast cancer journey, and I used the word ‘whisper’ twice in my poem.”
Though new to poetry, Swiednicki has long used art to process complex feelings.
“I’m very much an advocate for art,” Swiednicki said. “I believe art can reach people in ways that clinical language can’t, and I believe that poetry can hold space for emotions and healing. Putting a pen to paper when the words are very hard to come by naturally was very healing for me.”
Swiednicki initially experimented with a short children’s story, but felt that it wasn’t “vulnerable” enough.
“Being vulnerable invites connectivity,” Swiednicki said. “There’s a huge sense of strength in being vulnerable. It’s our true self, and I feel like when we put our true self and our vulnerability out there, it invites something into our life. It’s very healing, and I found that through cancer, I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities. For instance, I wouldn’t have written this poem without cancer. And I feel that being vulnerable and [having] cancer has also introduced me to some really courageous people who have been so kind and so strong and helped me through this journey. It took a lot of courage and bravery to put this poem out there and be vulnerable.”
Swiednicki was diagnosed with cancer in September 2024, and elaborated on the meaning of the title of her poem in relation to that diagnosis.
“For a long time during the whole diagnosis, the process of learning about cancer, and all the numbers that they throw at you, it’s like you’re holding your breath,” Swiednicki said. “And then at the end, you can take that big breath, that sigh of relief that you’ve fought your hardest battle.”
Swiednicki spoke about how she felt when BPL notified her that she had won.
“I was honestly so excited, humbled, and honoured that somebody saw something in my writing,” Swiednicki said. “I just hope it’s a gift to other people going through some challenge in their lives. I’m really grateful that the Burlington Public Library held this contest. It really gave me an outlet during a challenging time.”
Swiednicki said that she hopes the poem will inspire others to be vulnerable and share their own stories.
Whispering to myself:
You are brave.
You are beautiful.
You can breathe now.
— Rachel Swiednicki, excerpt from “Now You Can Breathe”
Kriti Majumdar won the 18 or older short stories category for her story, Where Whispers Wake Up.
Majumdar immigrated from India to Burlington in May of this year and said that she found out about the contest while researching public libraries and book clubs in the area.
“I have always aspired to be a writer,” Majumdar said. “I was in the creative writing and copywriting field back home in India. I’m a reader, and when I saw that the theme was whispers, I felt inspired.”
Majumdar visited Lake Ontario for inspiration for the story, and decided to set the story in the Lakeshore area.
“I think the community is so awesome and embracing,” Majumdar said. “I did not feel like I had to have any kind of fear because I’m new here and I would be treated differently or anything like that.”
Majumdar already feels like a Burlingtonian and is actively volunteering with BurlingtonGreen, and for the Sound of Music festival and Canada Day celebrations at Spencer Smith Park.
Majumdar said that her short story is about the ability to express your sexual orientation openly, without “whispering.”
“Where I come from, love is very restricted and stereotypical,” Majumdar described. “When men see two women very close, they just assume ‘Oh, they must be either bickering about their husbands or they’re just chitchatting about their daily life and how they are married,’ but they fail to understand that there can be a sense of love between both of them.”
The story follows Anuja, a traditional Indian woman who is in an unhappy marriage and develops feelings for another woman, Nina, who, according to Majumdar, could be Indian or Canadian depending on the reader’s interpretation.
“Every day they cross paths and there is the spark of something romantic,” Majumdar said. “It’s mostly about that yearning to be seen and to be loved romantically, irrespective of gender.”
Majumdar said that while she is not a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, she is a huge supporter and ally. She said that homosexuality is still very taboo in India.
“I think it is in the image of a family and what a family represents in India, [there is a] stable set of rules, so anybody not following the rules is a rule breaker and is ostracized,” Majumdar said. “It is a conditioning sort of thing where the rule says you need to marry, have children, and have this golden family image, and if you do not do it, then you’re not part of the society, or you are one of those nuisances in society.”
Nina noticed the calluses on Anuja’s fingers, and Anuja observed the way Nina held her coffee cup like she was bracing herself. It all built up quietly. Intimately. Without confession.
— Kriti Majumdar, excerpt from “Where Whispers Wake Up”
Tammy Kim won the 18 or older award in the comics category for her comic, Christine.
Kim found out about the contest through a poster at the library. She studied animation at Sheridan College but had never worked on a comic before the contest.
Kim said that she has drawn in her spare time ever since she was a child, with a style and themes that often revolve around adolescence.
“A lot of my artwork revolves around the theme of memory, childhood, and quiet moments of everyday life,” Kim said.
She spoke about how she incorporated the theme into her comic.
“I didn’t really have a positive connotation around the word ‘whisper’ because for me, it felt more like elitism and like secrecy,” Kim said. “But I somehow associated it with my childhood experience with whispering, and that was the turning point for me. That’s a bit more benign and cuter way to think about the theme.”
Christine focuses on a girl who doesn’t speak to anyone other than occasionally whispering to her friend Alex.
Kim spoke about how it felt to win the contest.
“I was really excited because it opened up more possibilities for me,” Kim said. “It made me feel really proud of myself because [it showed] I could actually create an artwork, and people resonated with it.”
Kim said the experience may encourage her to make more comics.
To view all of the winning submissions from the Write Here Write Now contest, visit https://www.bpl.on.ca/news/writingcontestwinners.
