Competitions
cafe writers open poetry competition 2009
RESULTS:
Open
Competition
First Prize (£1000) Deer
Helen Mort, Cambridge
Second Prize (£300) Comfort
Rosemary
Norman, Richmond
Commended (£50) First days on the houseboat Ian McEwen Bedford
Fresno with Martha
Bob Mee, Snitterfield , Warwick
The Trees in Autumn
Richard Lambert Norwich
Space Station
Lydia MacPherson Cambridge
You Tell Me
Matthew Brown, London
Norfolk
Prize
Winner (£100)
Sunlight and Rain
Tom Warner - Norwich
Nancy
Jervis Prize (£150)
Winner
Reconciliation
Phillip Donnell – New Zealand
Some other
commended poems (open competition - no prize)
Competition
Sarah Luczaj - Poland
Emigrated
Sheila Grundy – Richmond N.Yorks
Butterfly
Valerie Morton Wheathampstead, Herts
With the Silence
Steve Layzell - London
Twin
Heather Freckleton – Chester
Train –
Joan Stansbury Devon
Eighteen
Rosemary Norman, Richmond,London
Harsh Coast
Jenny Morris Norwich
Commended, no
prize, Nancy Jervis
Holy Family Halos
Vishvantara
(Julia Lewis) London
Reconciliation
Nicky Guthrie, Beauly, Inverness
Betrayed
Angela Pickering - Woodbridge
Click
here to read George Szirtes' Judge's Notes
PRESS RELEASE
CAFÉ
WRITERS POETRY COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Competition
judge George Szirtes will introduce the winners of this year’s Café Writers
Poetry Competition at Jurnet’s Bar, in Norwich on 15th February.
Cambridge-based poet Helen Mort, 24 is awarded prize money of £1000 for her poem Deer.
No stranger to winning prizes, Mort whose collection A
Pint for the Ghost (Tall Lighthouse) is a Poetry Book Society pamphlet
choice, won the Foyle Young Poets of the
Year competition five times.
The second-placed poet wins £300 and is Rosemary
Norman, who also won second prize in the National Poetry Competition in 2007.
She will have a collection published by Shoestring Press later this
year.
The judge’s report says of the competition: “A very high number of entries - c.
1600 – meant it was bigger than most regionally offered prizes. It is, in
many ways, encouraging to have so many poems since it indicates that poetry is
a natural recourse for far more people than we would think.”
Competition entries came from all over the world and Café Writers were
delighted that so many people entered the competition, which is the main
funding for their rich and varied program.
The poetry competition’s local strand The
Ink Sweat and Tears
Norfolk Prize sees new Faber pamphleteer, Tom Warner win £100 for his poem Sunlight
and Rain. The winner of the Nancy Jervis Prize on the theme of
‘Reconciliation’ is Phillip Donnell from New Zealand, who wins £150 for
his poem Reconciliation.
The Café Writers competition was established by the Norwich-based
writers network to encourage poetry writing, both locally and internationally.
Café Writers is run entirely by volunteers, and supports writers of
all genres and at all stages of their development from beginners right through
to well-established names. See www.cafewriters.org.uk
Helen Mort, Rosemary Norman and Tom Warner will read their winning poems
at Café Writers on the 15th February.
The evening will also include the judge’s report and a reading by
renowned poet, George Szirtes. Commended
local poets Richard Lambert and Jenny Morris will read their poems, and there
will be an opportunity for some Open Mic spots (names collected on the
evening.) The event starts at
7.45pm, and the entry fee is just £2.
Competition
Rules
