Winning Poems Available to Read HERE
First Prize: I am Soil
Jane Burn
A deeply imaginative and empathetic engagement with the more-than-human written in carefully constructed free verse with a focus on detailed diction and phrasing. The language use is as vivid and inventive as the theme and the poem avoids the potential pitfalls of anthropomorphism as it recognises the strangeness and alterity of the natural world to honour the agency and integrity of soil.
Second Prize: The Matriarchy
Julie Burke
A contemporary sonnet in praise of the women who are often overlooked or forgotten in family and class histories. The lines are carefully written to emphasise the sound patterning of the language. There is a pleasing use of sibilance and half rhyme as well as end and internal rhyme. These devices though as not over-stated but underscore an accessible and conversational poetic voice which uses colloquial phrasing to celebrate the value of ordinary work and, indeed, the unrecognised work of the women who hold families together.
Third Prize: Marthe de Meligny
Jim C Wilson
An evocative and carefully-written poem which evokes the art work and the historical context with vivid narration. Lines are well-judged to create flow across the complex implied narrative which brings the painting to life through the ekphrastic approach to the theme. The poem is researched and diction is skilfully selected to convey the historical narrative alongside attention to repeated sound patterning to create an elegant poetic voice.
Highly Commended:
The Chat
Sam Szanto
My daughter has made a devi
Suzanna Fitzpatrick
A Place
Gareth Culshaw
Humour Prize: Beryl, the Rogue Librarian
Jane Burn
A detailed and well-observed narration offers a humorous account of life in the library. The use of long lines creates a prose-poetry which offers enough space for reported speech and multiple points of view in the narrative voice alongside carefully chosen diction to evoke Beryl’s world. This skill with scene and character creates a witty and wry exploration of human foibles.