VICTORIA PUGH LAUNCHES FIRST COLLECTION
Victoria Pugh, whose poem Touching was highly commended in our 2006 poetry competition and appeared in our 2006 anthology Night Balancing, has launched her first poeetry collection. Mrs Marvellous is published by Two Rivers Press and costs £8.
PAT WINSLOW LAUNCHES NEW BOOK
Pat Winslow, the winner of our 2004 poetry competition, has a new book out with Templar in the autumn.
Details at www.templarpoetry.co.uk
Pat is reading at the Ashbourne Festival on 22 June.
WINNER OF 2007 POETRY COMPETITION ANNOUNCED
The winner of our 2007 poetry competition is Dorothy Yamamoto from Oxford. Full details are now on our poetry competition page.
NEW BOOKS LAUNCHED
We have launched four new books:
- Adrift, a collection of short stories by Carolyn Kirk, winner of our short story competition
- Letters to Freddie Mercury, an anthology of short stories from the commended and some short listed entrants of our 2006/7 short story competition
- Landscape with a Hundred Bridges, a collection of poetry by Dorothy Yamamoto, winner of our 2007 poetry competition
- Blood Line, an anthology of poetry from the runners up and commended entrants of our 2007 poetry competiton
WINNER OF SHORT STORY COMPETITION ANNOUNCED
The winner of our short story competition is Carolyn Kirk from Uppingham in Rutland with her story Adrift. Full details are now on our short story competition page.
The competition, which was judged by the acclaimed novelist and short story writer, Hilary Mantel and was funded by Arts Council England through its Grants for the Arts programme, was open to writers aged 50 and over and attracted more than 750 entries.
In her judge’s comments Hilary Mantel said Carolyn’s winning story Adrift was “a masterly, subtle and startlingly beautiful story which stands repeated re-reading….Once the situation is set up, once the child has drifted away from his mother, no reader will put this story down.” She also praised its “formal, lyrical beauty…and the intricate rhythm and balance of the sentences.”
Carolyn’s prize is to have a collection of her short stories published by Blinking Eye and she will receive 100 copies of the book.
Although, she has written for many years and is a freelance contributor to home interiors magazines, Carolyn had never entered a writing competition before. “I saw the Blinking Eye competition and thought how wonderful it would be for Hilary Mantel to read my work.” When she found out she had won, Carolyn, who is married to an artist and has three teenage sons, was stunned. “I am indescribably thrilled. It is an honour to have won. This has given me such a lot of confidence and helped me so much,” she said. “I’m looking forward to starting work on producing my collection of stories now.”
Four writers won commendations from the judge. They were Ginny Baily from Exeter, Bead Roberts from Thurcaston, Leics, Chris Powell from Stanhope, Co Durham and John Bakewell from Droitwich, Worcs.
Commenting on their work, Hilary Mantel said: “Ginny Baily’s story George and the Goblin has more than a touch of Helen Simpson’s wryness….Bead Roberts’ Letters to Freddie Mercury is….simply written and well-shaped….I would have liked to stay longer with the characters of Chris Powell’s The Russians are Drowning, perhaps meet them in a novel….John Bakewell’s Josef’s Sister was a brave attempt to tackle a dark and difficult subject.”
Josephine Abbott wins 2006 Poetry Competition
When told that she has been chosen the overall winner of our Poetry Competition, Josephine, who lives in Chellaston, Derby, said: "The news is absolutely wonderful, and has come at just the right time." Read more about Josephine Abbott. Josephine is pictured (left) with Jeanne Macdonald from Blinking Eye (right) at the launch of her collection, Trying not to Levitate, at the Lit & Phil Library in Newcastle upon Tyne on 7 December 2006.
The highly commended poets were: 
Alan Franks (right)
Richmond, Surrey
Mike Horwood (left)
Tampere, Finland
J C Sinson
Whitby, North Yorkshire
Andrea Porter
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
Victoria Pugh
Reading, Berkshire
They were selected from a field of 650 blocks of 5 poems, a total of 3250 poems.
The launch of Josephine's collection Trying not to Levitate and the anthology Night Balancing took place at the Lit & Phil library in Newcastle upon Tyne on 7 December. Around 70 people attended the event and 18 of the highly commended and commended poets read their poems from the anthology. The evening ended with Josephine reading from her collection.
Above: A C Clarke (the 2005 winner) with Josephine Abbott
Right: Three of the commended poets who read at the launch event in Newcastle. From left, Lesley Mountain, Ellen Phethean and Sue Rylance
The competition was judged by Jo Shapcott, who is president of the Poetry Society and has published several collections and won many prizes for her poetry. She teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London and is also Visiting Professor in Poetry at Newcastle University and the University of the Arts, London. She comments:
"Jeanne at Blinking Eye gave me a strong group of poems to consider, which meant some pleasurable reading for me. The total response this year was an excellent 650 blocks of poems from all over the UK and as far afield as Finland. I hummed and hawed for a while, prolonging the enjoyable reading while putting off the difficult deciding, until I realised that with a collection of poems of such a good standard, the way towards the moment of selection was simply to read and reread the whole batch until the best stood out and declared themselves. In the end, the clarity and precision of Josephine Abbott's distinctive image-making came through forcefully, making her the clear winner.
But other poets deserve commending, too. The richness and intense musicality of Alan Franks' poems, particularly in 'The Stowaway' booked his place among the runners-up. In Mike Horwood's poems, the beautifully understated tone and his ability to make simple things in the material world resonate with mystery were among the strengths. The word 'jaunty' in one of Andrea Porter's poems also describes the fascinating cut glass surfaces of her work, always tugging against an undercurrent of darkness and violence. Victoria Pugh's work sites itself delicately on the boundaries between the self and the world. J. C. Sinson's lively and sensuous poems celebrate language, fragility and all things human."
Marilyn Longstaff joins Blinking Eye |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jun 29 2008 at 1:58 PM |
Marilyn Longstaff has joined Blinking Eye as the poetry competition organiser.
BackPage last updated: 29.06.2008
