Thank you Nick Makoha for choosing my poem about a Romanian bear sanctuary as one of the winners in this summer’s Poetry Society Members’ Poems Competition.
Sanctuarul Ursilor joins five strong poems by Sue Davies, Jenny Hamlett, N.J. Hynes, Christopher James and Isabella Mead on the centre pages of Poetry News, with an introduction by Nick about why he chose them.
The theme for the competition was ‘Circus’ and it’s fascinating to see how each of the poets bring their own vision and interpretation of the word, from Cornish rituals and Scottish islands, to Galileo’s observations, and my own take on the theme – the imposition of human traits on wild animals in the name of entertainment.
You can read all the winning poems, including Sanctuarul Ursulor, by clicking the following link: Winning Poems 2018
Nick Makoha is an accomplished poet who won the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Prize and the 2016 Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize for his pamphlet Resurrection. His poems have appeared in magazines including The Poetry Review, The New York Times and Wasafiri. “A poem is a world unto itself that, when aligned in the right orbit, will hold our gaze and reveal something new,” writes Nick. “The six poems I have chosen have indeed succeeded by shifting me in time or place.”
Not yet a member of The Poetry Society? Don’t miss out! It’s ludicrously good value AND you’ll be able to enter the next Members’ Competition on the theme of ‘Change’. The judge this time is Meryl Pugh. Deadline for entries is August 6th. If you’re a Poetry Society Member and also part of a Stanza Group, you could also enter this year’s Stanza Competition judged by Penelope Shuttle. The theme is ‘tradition’. Both competition are free to enter. So time to get writing!
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