Brandon Humber
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER

A graduate of the Humber School for Writers is one of 50 poets from all over the world shortlisted for the first-ever Montreal International Poetry Prize.

Leslie Timmins’ poem “After Cancer” is one of several from Canadian poets that has a chance to win the international competition.

Timmins wrote the poem after being diagnosed and treated for two types of cancer.

“The poem reflects the struggle I had after that experience – to just be able to quietly be in my body… and feel safe there,” Timmins said.

Timmins took the correspondence program at the School for Writers in 2007, and worked with author Isabel Huggan as a mentor.

“Working with Isabel was critical for me as a writer, because she really understood what I needed at that point in my writing,” Timmins said.

Huggan said that as a mentor, having Timmins’ work recognized is a rewarding experience for her as well.

“I guess it shows that my faith in her was absolutely justified,” Huggan said. “It’s one of those situations where the mentor’s able to say, ‘I knew she was good.’”

Len Epp, one of the creators of the prize and colleague Asa Boxer, whose non-profit organization celebrates poetry from around the world, created The Global Poetry Prize.

The contest was established With the help of an anonymous “catalyst donor” who funded the first prize of $50,000, Epp said.

Epp and Boxer are in the process of publishing an anthology of the prize winning poems in an titled The 2011 Global Poetry Anthology.

Epp said the two thought there would be an audience for such a book.

They plan to carry over profits from this years’ shortlist anthology into next years’ prize.

A long-list anthology will also be available free online for download some time in December, said Epp.

Timmins’ poem will be included in the anthology, Which will be available by the end of the year.