With the theme, “What BVILOVE means to you”, which included a multimedia component, it is no wonder the 2020 BVILOVE Poetry Contest invited such amazingly creative submissions.

The BVI Tourist Board is pleased to announce A'Nia Turnbull and Nilani Scatliffe of the Century House Montessori School BVI as winners of Category 1 and Nicklous Kanhai of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College as the winner of Category 2 of the 2020 BVILOVE Poetry Competition. Samuel Penn and Zaed Chalwell, both of Century House Montessori School BVI tied with Ajanaѐ L. Estridge of the Althea Scatliffe Primary School as second-place winners in Category 1.  Olivia Freeman of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College is the second-place winner in Category 2.

The contest launched in November as part of BVI Culture and Tourism Month, required contestants to submit their written innovative poems along with a multimedia aspect such as a video, photograph, artwork, or performance.

A'Nia and Nilani’s poem entitled, “We Were Wondering” is a spoken word with imagery that details highlights, including sights and sounds of what guests will experience in the BVI.

Nicklous’ poem “BVILOVE, A Shining Love”, personifies BVILOVE by explaining to readers that it is unescapable and is everywhere you go and in everything you do.

Junior Minister for Tourism and Territorial At Large Representative, Honourable Sharie de Castro said, “As a poet, it is so inspiring and encouraging to see young people using the written and spoken word via poetry to promote BVILOVE.  These courageous and talented young people demonstrated the ability to express themselves with amazing depth and clarity through the arts. Well done to all the participants and congratulations to the winners.”

Meanwhile, Director of Tourism, Clive McCoy says reading the entries was a refreshing experience.  “This competition comes at the right time.  Not only do they emphasize the remarkable talent of our youth, but all entries were inspiring.  They forced us to take time to refresh and connect with the poets who gave their unique perspectives of what the BVI offers our guests and residents alike.”

First place winners in Category 1 received an Apple iPad Air with accessories and an iTunes gift card.  The first-place winner in Category 2 received an iPad Pro with accessories and an iTunes gift card.  The entries were judged by a panel of local professors, multimedia specialist and aesthetes

The BVI Tourist Board thanks all entrants for their hard work.