Poets Meet Politics Competition Results

The winning and shortlisted entries in the 2015 Poets Meet Politics competition were read at the Sarah Walker Gallery, The Pier, Castletownbere, County Cork, on Saturday last 14 March 2015. I was delighted to have a poem highly commended and to make the journey for the event. The readings were introduced by the competition judge, Derek Sellen.

The winner of the competition was Afric McGlinchey. with her poem I is Another. Second place went to Shirley McLure for Dad's Canvassing Card and third was Jacks for Office by Michael Casey. I was impressed by all the poems and very interested in how poets approach such an open topic.

The full results and Derek's comments are on the website. Also some photographs from the event.

I was impressed by the judge's selection. It was clear that he appreciated the breadth of the subject and the winning/commended poems include the directly topically political and the more sideways treatment of the topic. My poem, The Gun, probably belongs to the latter category.

The winning and commended poems, 23 in all, are published in the Poets meet Politics 2015 Anthology which is available from the Hungry Hill website. Well worth 4 euro!

Earlier on the day I attended a poetry workshop led by the competition judge, award-winning poet, Derek Sellen. A most enjoyable and useful session. The nine participants had submitted a poem each and these were critiqued. It was fascinating to hear the reactions of the participants to each piece.

Opinions were freely given, suggestions were offered, punctuation and syntax were examined, meanings were queried and the big questions - Where to break the line? How much to tell the reader? - were discussed. I really enjoyed the workshop, thanks to the facilitator and the participants.