Pet Laureate Contest

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the CV2 Pet Laureate Contest. We had an amazing time getting to know all of your pets, but we couldn’t pick just one favourite! We have selected 5 finalist. Please check out their pictures and descriptions below and vote for your choice for CV2’s first ever Pet Laureate! Voting will remain open until 11:59pm CT on Monday, November 14th and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 15th.

Choose your favourite:

Archie

Archie is a medium white dog with an orange collar sitting on a bench in front of leafy trees.

This is my dog, Archie. Her full name is Archyaeopteryx Leomonade Ramjit.
We agree on many things (Off leash walks are best. Going in the car is great. Chips are very good snacks. Earplugs are fantastic- although I use them for sleep and she, again, thinks they’re a delicious snack.)
Despite her debatable taste in snacks, she goes high brow when it comes to literature. Very into the OG Can Lit poets right now. Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Lorna Crozier. She judges my penchant for queer romance novels.

Archie keeps my feet warm while I write, is always up for wandering the woods with me while I mutter about metaphors, and is also a gorgeous, glorious floof.

Buttercup

Buttercup is a pug sitting on a couch with Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.

Hello, I would like to nominate my dog Buttercup. The amount of character contained in her perfect wrinkly face is enough to inspire the weakest imagination. She constantly has an expression of dire concern, as if she’s just heard the worst news possible. Her favourite pastime is snoring on vaginas, even those of casual acquaintances or strangers for whom this is awkward. Her best friend is her brother-cat, Sweet Pea, and neighbour-dog, Zelda. She struggles to get along with her little sisters who are chickens but did grieve when one was recently taken up to heaven by some coyotes. Buttercup continues to struggle with the fact that the coyotes are not her true friends. She gets excited when she sees dogs on tv and will often bark to show her support. Her favourite foods are nuts and peanut butter (it could be said she is a peanut buttercup). She cannot read but her favourite books to chew are “Rising, Falling, Hovering” by C.D. Wright, “The T.E. Lawrence Poems” by Gwendolyn MacEwen and “Stereoblind” by Emma Healey.

Soup and Salad (a sibling duo!)

Soup is a black pug sitting on a blanket next to Event Magazine and yellow and purple pillows. Salad is a white dog with a brown nose with his face face squished by a car window.

This is Soup 🥣 dog. He likes poetry about fluffy blankets and surprise treats. He does not like poetry about rain or wet feet. When I write he warms my lap and only sometimes messes up my line breaks by laying his head on the keyboard. Soup also has a sister named Salad who embodies the more spiritual existence of the poet.

Ursula

Ursula is a hairless cat wearing a purple and yellow sweater. She is sitting in a cat bed with a pick spotted blanket.

Ursula is a fussy but affectionate Sphynx with a passion for spoken word (specifically at 4am, from inside the bathtub). She wanted me to share that she does not like Mary Oliver because she writes too much about her dog. My apologies for her rudeness.

Yogi

Yogi is a white dog with brown spots and large ears. He is wearing a dinosaur collar and he is standing on the beach.

This is Yogi. A poem he wrote for me was in @Dreich25197318 and in my chapbook and my love poem for him was published @TheDirigible. He is a stone-cold mouse killer and Podenco-in- chief @SidhePress