Hey You Lucy Liu by Charlie Petch

Charlie Petchhas made the2021 CBC PoetryPrize longlistforHey You Lucy Liu.

• 31writers make the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize longlist

The winner of the 2021CBC PoetryPrizewill receive $6,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts, have their work published onCBC Booksand have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at theBanff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand have their work published onCBC Books.

The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 18and the winner will be announced on Nov. 24.

If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, theCBC Nonfiction Prizeopens in January and theCBC PoetryPrizeopens in April.

AboutCharlie Petch

Charlie Petch is a disabled, queer and transmasculine multidisciplinary artist. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer and host, Petch was the winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets. They're also thefounder of Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. Petch is a performer, mentor and workshop facilitator. In 2021, they are launching Why I Was Late with Brick Books andMedusa's Children, a libretto, with Opera Q.

Entry in five-ish words

"Love in a gender neutral bathroom."

The poem's source of inspiration

"The gender inclusive washroom set on Ally McBeal, my crush on Lucy Liu and decolonization."

First lines

I first saw you onscreen in the gender neutral washroom
all the lawyers shared in the legal drama, Ally McBeal
circa 1997. You a top floor lawyer, a swan, a revelation
Me merely a gaze, an unseen audience
just a closeted transmasculine teen wondering why
every washroom wasn't like this.

About the 2021 CBC PoetryPrize

The winner of the 2021CBC PoetryPrizewill receive $6,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts, have their work published onCBC Booksand attend a two-week writing residency at theBanff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand have their work published onCBC Books.

The 2022CBC Nonfiction Prizewill open in January. The 2022CBC Poetry Prizewill open in April.