Category: Notes on the Niagara Falls Poetry Project

Congratulatory Certificate from MPP Wayne Gates

MPP

As part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project on April 9, 2026, Shannon Mitchell on behalf of MPP Wayne Gates presented this congratulatory certificate.

At the celebration, each speaker was introduced with a limerick, and each of the speakers was invited to write and perform a poem of their own.

MPP Wayne Gates speaking in the Ontario Legislature

The introduction to MPP Wayne Gates, written and recited by Andrew Porteus, read:

Our dear MPP is Wayne Gates
And havoc at Queen’s Park he creates
He’s got quite the ‘stache
That makes such a flash
When a cabinet minister he berates

Shannon Mitchell wrote and recited a haiku at the event:

Ontario budget
Deep cuts across the board
Community rises

At this event, the Niagara Falls Poetry Project 25th Anniversary Poetry Contest was announced. Click here for the rules and submission guidelines. 

25th Anniversary Poetry Competition Rules & Submission Guidelines

contest rules

 

Welcome to the Niagara Falls Poetry Project 25th Anniversary Poetry Competition, a juried competition with poems in any form, on the theme of Niagara Falls, (the waterfalls and/or the two cities), with a special award for the poem that best exemplifies the “Spirit of Niagara Falls.” Poems will be added to the website, and published in an anthology of Niagara poetry.

There will be a first place prize of $200, a second place prize of $100, and a third place prize of $50. In addition there will be a $200 prize for the the poem that best exemplifies the “Spirit of Niagara Falls.”

Niagara Falls Poetry Contest Rules

Theme:

  • Niagara Falls (waterfalls & 2 cities) & Niagara River
    • Poems can be descriptive, philosophical, spiritual, historical, personal, or anything else as long as there is some connection to Niagara Falls, and not just a casual mention (see the NFPP website at https://niagarapoetry.ca to see the range of poetry accepted).
  • There will be a first prize winner of $200, a second prize winner of $100, and a third prize winner of $50
  • In addition, there will be a $200 prize for the poem that best captures the Spirit of Niagara Falls

Format:

  • No AI generated poems
  • Any poetical form accepted
  • Maximum 100 lines
  • English language or translation – judging will be on the English language translation, not the original language
  • May be previously published or already on the NFPP site
  • $5 entry fee, covers a maximum of 3 poems 
  • No gratuitous sex, violence, racism, or hate speech
  • Judges may not submit a poem to the contest, but will get a free entry on the website & in the anthology, and a free copy of the anthology

How to submit:

  • Submit in both a standard editing format and as a .pdf
  • Include a cover page with name, contact information, title, and biography, with an optional head shot (300 dpi minimum)
  • No identifying information on poem page
  • Optional Include an image illustrating the poem (min 300 dpi, 600 preferred, jpg), your copyright, copyright free, or from a place copyright can easily be obtained.
  • Submit to poetrycontest@niagarapoetry.ca
  • Submit payment through etransfer (preferred) or PayPal to poetrycontest@niagarapoetry.ca with message “Contest entry for [Your Name]”
  • Once submitted the poem cannot be changed
  • Contest closes at 11:59 pm August 15, 2026  (Eastern Daylight Time)

By entering the contest you:

  • Agree to have your poem published on the NFPP website & in the 25th anniversary anthology, at the NFPP curator’s discretion (Not all entries will necessarily be published online or in the print anthology)
  • Receive a 15% discount when ordering the print anthology
  • Agree that the judges’ decision is final

 

 

25th Anniversary Celebration

celebration

2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project website.

To celebrate, I’m hosting an event:

“The Niagara Falls Poetry Project: Celebrating 25 Years of Discovering, Preserving, and Recovering the Literary Heritage of Niagara Falls”
 
Help celebrate National Poetry Month and the 25th anniversary of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project,  which collects, preserves, and promotes the poetry written about Niagara Falls. Poetry on the site ranges from 1604 to the present, includes all poetic forms, and ranges from the humorous to the erotic to the religious, powerful literary imaginings of Niagara Falls to limericks and doggerel, from the raptures of the sublimity of the falls to the despair of the despondent and suicidal, from the battles fought here to the stunters and daredevils seeking instant fame.
 
Andrew Porteus, curator of the site, will be joined by poets in a fun-filled short program including the historical significance of the poetry of Niagara Falls, and  reading some of their own poetry and some of the significant historical poems. 
 
This event will also mark the launch of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project 25th Anniversary Poetry Competition, a juried competition with poems in any form, on the theme of Niagara Falls, (the waterfalls and/or the two cities), with a special award for the poem that best exemplifies the “Spirit of Niagara Falls.” Poems will be added to the website, and published in an anthology of Niagara poetry.
 
Paper will be provided for those inspired to write a poem on the spot,  before or during the program.
 
There will be cake!
 
Thursday April 9, 2026 at the Niagara Falls History Museum, 5810 Ferry St., Niagara Falls, Ontario, from 7-9 pm.
 
Contact aporteus@niagarapoetry.ca for more information

 

CAA Article

CAA
Last summer I got an unexpected call from the Niagara CAA magazine asking if they could feature me in their “What’s Your Favourite” column, which features local people talking about the area. The digital copy arrived this morning. 

“What’s Your Favourite”

Spike in Stats

spike
I enjoy looking at the stats for the Niagara Falls Poetry Project website. In addition to the number of hits on the site, they also show which pages are being looked at, how long each visitor is on the page, how many pages each visitor looks at, time of day, country that the visitor is from, and other stuff. One of these is the referrer, such as search engine, wikipedia pages, social media pages and the like. Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of visitors through the McMaster University portal. In the last few days there have been 144 visitors using the McMaster portal, and 100 of those were today between 2-4 pm, mostly viewing the same poem.

At other times that the site has been active (since 2001) I have noticed colleges and universities using the site through their portal, and I find it most gratifying to see it used by them. When I discovered a professor at a nearby university had been using the site in her course, I ended up giving a talk to her class about poetry in Niagara and its use in the social and historical record of the area.

So thanks, McMaster. If you’re a student there and have used the site, or if you’re the prof using the site as a teaching tool, please reach out (aporteus@niagarapoetry.ca) – I’d love to talk to you about how you are using it.

Many thanks,

Andrew