2004 Winners
And the winner is ...
Pat Winslow
Pat's block of poems, title, Ordnance Survey, was chosen by the Judge, Linda France, with the following words:
'Right from the first reading, Ordnance Survey stood out: its unusual energy and willingness to experiment intrigued and delighted me. I enjoyed exploring its range, its many contours, confidently handled, precise, persuasive.'
Follow the link to read Ordnance Survey and The Ferryman's Daughter from the winning block, and more about Pat Winslow.
2004 Competition Report
I enjoyed the experience of my first venture into the competition and publishing world, although the latter months of 2004 proved to be somewhat hectic, and at times a manic activity. After the launch on the 1st December I packed and posted all pre-ordered, and contributors' free books by the 10th December. The books sales have been excellent and only a small number remain.
The highlights of the year were numerous: reading every entered poem a privilege: receiving letters and e-mails of support; meeting and listening to the readings of the twenty-one poets who attended the launch; the tremendous support given by so many poets, and also individual writing groups.
The low moments: the knowledge that so many excellent poems wouldn't be published in the anthology because of cost and space.
The lessons learned: in spite of my tendency to rush in where others fear to tread, things went surprisingly well. In retrospect, there was no need for each block of poems to have a title, critiques could have been offered for all of the year rather than after the competition closed, and getting as many of the published poems as possible in electronic form would have eased the publication process and reduced misprints.
As a result of the above, I shall ask commended poets in 2005 to provide their poems in electronic form. I realise that not all poets will have the facility at hand to do so; therefore, poets who cannot will have the opportunity to proof-read their own work before the final print run. Critiques will not be offered on the entry form, but will be a service offered all year. Each entrant will be asked to attach their name and address on a cover sheet to every block of five poems.
This year each month a commissioned poem will be posted on the website, also pieces written by established poets about their personal opinions on their chosen topic. First up is our Judge this year, W.N. Herbert, on writing about survival.
I look forward to reading this year's entries so please look in your poetry drawer, start sending them in! My best wishes to you all.
Jeanne Macdonald
All photos by Roger Cornwell, Cornwell Internet
Winners' publications launched
Pat Winslow's book Skin & Dust and the anthology The Ticking Crocodile were both launched at an event on 1st December held in Newcastle's Literary and Philosophical Society. You can buy both publications from this website.
Introducing the event, Jeanne Macdonald (pictured above) said: "I believe that the response to the competition endorses the Blinking Eye project.". She was followed by a plethora of poets who delighted us with their readings, all taken from the antholgy The Ticking Crocodile They included:
Albert Oxford
who read I can't forget:
You were a dark-haired stranger when we met,
Yet that first glance which kindled such a fire
Burned both of us with nothing but desire
And left us both with nothing but regret.
I can't forget.
Albert, whose love of complex (and original) verse patterns is well-illustrated by this poem, lives in Epsom, where he was born. The surrounding down-land and countryside feature in much of his work, though the main elements are more often based on emotions generated by human relationships.
Mary Pickin
an actor and advisor at local universities, who also writes and performs comedy sketches. She cites Gillian Allnutt's classes as "inspirational". Here is the end of Frida and Me, her reactions to the artist's self-portrait:
She: Hibiscus woman
wrapped in gold and scarlet.
Coyoacan, the place where she was born
a jalapeno of passion.
Me: February woman, footstool
wrapped in bacon fat.
Sheffield, the place where I was born
under a slag heap.
Kiss me, Frida Kahlo!
Marlyn Rosario
has two poems in the collection. She read What I Know About Hair:
When you kneel between your mother's towelled knees
dripping, too young to argue, the roots
will pull and burn, cleanliness will squeal
between her fingers. She will hold the comb like a knife
to part and section, pushing the point
until your scalp is alive with ants.
The rest is dead raven.
Marlyn has an MA in Creative Writing, but is still trying to write the poem; like pebbles on a beach, there is always a better one ahead.
Geraldine Messenbird Smith
has two poems in the collection. She read Nigeria Nights 1951 and this comes half way through the lush description of her child's view:
Mother stabs a finger into the sky:
a bolt of lightning forks over a hill
on the horizon.
Electric blue runs down the hillside
and I shudder, wondering
if there were living creatures there.
How can she bear to be a witch?
... and a dozen and a half more poets, winding up with Pat Winslow, about whom Linda France says "Skin & Dust more than exceeds the promise of the five poems that won her first prize." The event was punctuated by a break for refreshments, where people mingled and chatted:
Afterwards people lingered, buying the books, discussing the work: below Pat Winslow talks with Gillian Allnutt (right).
Commended poems:
Maureen Li
When She Got There
Going the Other Way
Janet Loverspeed
Hoppers Tunnel
Harriet Torr
The Foil
The Teller
Jenny Hamlett
Train Coming In
Pat Winslow
The Visit
Wendy Klein
Fellow Traveller
Mapping
Barbara Cumbers
Relativity
Marlyn Rosario
Openings
Eileen Jones
Cold Storage
Gill Learner
The Certainty of Bats
Jenny Osbourne
Mapping the Island
Derek Collins
Spider in Space
Joy Wharton
Communications
Amanda Parkyn
Catching Shad
Jeanne Macdonald adds:
Thank you all for your support in this first competition, many poets who entered excellent work will be disappointed that their poems aren't chosen. The standard of entered work has been extremely high and the Judge wrote: 'I found the task harder than anticipated,' and, 'pleased so many folk out there are writing and open to fresh challenges.' Therefore, I have decided to increase the size of the anthology, and have added my own list of commended poets, who are (in alphabetical order) as follows:
David Ashbee
Colin Archer
Neil Beardmore
C.P. Bell
Denise Bennett
Pam Bridgeman
Josephine Brogan
Carole Bromley
Tom Bryan
Deidre Cameron
Mavis Carter
Liz Cashdan
Sue Chadd
P. Collins
Jennifer Copely
A. Corkish
Paul F. Cowlan
Simon Curie
Margaret Eddenshaw
John Ellis
Charles Evans
Shiela Fielder
Penny Feinstein
June George
Ian Gough
Doreen Hinchcliffe
Carlotta Miller Johnson
Anne Kelly
Genista Lewes
Christine Lowes
Asit Maitra
E.J. Matyjaszek
Celia McCulloch
Gerry M. Smith
Lesley Mountain
Sheila Nichols
Maureen Oliphant
Lynda O’Neil
Catherine Orr
Albert Oxford
Anthony Payne
Mary Pickin
Christopher Pilling
Jeff Price
June Portlock
Lesley Quale
Mal Shephard
K.V. Skene
Maggie Tate
Ruth Terrington
Ron Tomkins
J. Vale
Marion Wells
Sheila Wild
Lyn White
Jane Wiltshire
William Wood
Ann Zell
For those whose names aren't mentioned, please don't be disheartened. There were many borderline poems, and I urge you to promote your work at every opportunity.
Page last updated: 13.11.2006
