First Prize (Publication)

 

Sign on the Scottish island of Gigha

After a tricky ten days, it was a real boost to hear that I had won First Prize in the 'Wee Collection' Challenge, set last November by Mark Davidson of the Hedgehog Poetry Press. This means that my sequence of seven interlinked sonnets will be published as a slim pamphlet. 

Watch this space!  

In other news, I very much enjoyed taking part in the ACW-Trellis online poetry day last Saturday. Participating poets came from England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Albania. I read 'Dunwich in Winter' from my 2021 collection, Driftwood by Starlight (The Seventh Quarry Press).   

National Poetry Day, 2018

While fellow Suffolk poets were out in the balmy sunshine at Aldeburgh, declaiming their poems from these iconic steps, I was stuck in Ipswich, missing their company, their poems, the sea and, of course, the fish and chips that are such an essential part of this particular National Poetry Day gathering. There's always next year...

The portion in the photo above is actually from Whitby, a good way further up the east coast, but since I wasn't on the beach today, I wasn't able to post an up-to-date photo. But the thought of chips by the sea is already whetting my appetite for the forthcoming Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival in November.

Speaking of November, I spent part of the afternoon asking local shop managers and assistants if they would display a poster for me, advertising our local poetry competition on the theme of '100 Years of Remembrance'. I enjoyed some lively conversations, and am very grateful to all who took a poster (or several) to advertise the following categories...

I came home to the cheering news that my own competition entry in the Indigo Dreams Publishing First Collection Competition, one of 34 Long-listed collections at the start of today, had reached the Shortlist of nine. Hearty congratulations to the two winners, Ben Gwalchmai and Zoe Mitchell, whose collections will be published.

Twitter, in particular, has been alive with poetry-related soundbites. One tweet (I wish I could remember the tweeter) expressed the view that National Poetry Day was like Christmas, but just for poets. Leaving Christmas aside for a moment, this set me thinking about those who read and listen to the poems we produce and share: it seems to me that while there would, of course, be no poetry without the poets, there would actually be little point to poetry if it failed to reach beyond the people who penned/typed/texted and declaimed it. Thank you, therefore, to all who publish poetry, to all those loyal readers who purchase it and to all those who come along to listen with the brooding expectation of one with a seashell to the ear.

Winning Poem in Disability Arts Cymru 2016 iBook

More than just... 'A Drop in the Ocean'

The staff at Disability Arts Cymru have produced an iBook of poems that rose to the top in their 2016 competition. Many of us selected a piece of artwork from the organisation's art contest as inspiration, though we were also offered the theme of austerity/extravagance.

My poem, 'A Drop in the Ocean', which was awarded First Prize, was inspired by 'Shoreline Symphonies' by Eileen Harrisson. You will see Eileen's picture if you download the pdf.

'Penwith Finger Stone' and the Milestones-WriteOutLoud Poetry Competition Anthology

Milestones: the Poetry Anthology

Thanks are due to Steve Pottinger who read my poem, 'Penwith Finger Stone', on my behalf at the prize-giving event in Long Compton on 7 October 2017 (see Greg Freeman's report here). I was sorry not to be there, but I am delighted with the competition anthology which arrived today.

My poem took Third Place in the Milestones Competition (adult section), run by Write Out Loud on behalf of the Milestone Society and judged by Brian Patten (whose anthology, 'The Mersey Sound', co-authored with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri has just marked its 50th anniversary). 

Greg writes that 'the poetry competition was part of a Milestone Society project called Finding The Way', an enterprise concerned with the route of the 1730 Stratford to Long Compton Turnpike. 

2017 - New Year News

 Happy New Year 

2017

The Tawny Owl in the photo above is known as Mabel. She is well known to those of us who live in the Ipswich area as she frequents the town's Christchurch Park and has for many years returned to the hollow branch of the tree in the picture. 

I was delighted to begin the year with a cheque representing the fact that my Barn Owl poem had been voted 'Second' in the readers' votes for the December issue of Reach Poetry, one of three flagship magazines from Indigo Dreams Publishing. 

I heard today that my entry for the Indigo Dreams Pamphlet Competition had gained a 'Commended'. More good news, but of a kind that leaves little room for complacency as it would be good to see the poems published as a batch. Unlike Mabel, I intend to keep my eyes wide open.

As for specific 2017 writing goals, well, I have an 'illumination of ideas' but am still at the formulating stage. I wonder what goals you have in mind?

Disability Arts Cymru Poetry Competition 2016

I was thrilled to receive an envelope this morning containing my First Prize in the 2016 Disability Arts Cymru Poetry Competition. Poets were encouraged to write in response to art work, which is always an appealing idea; but this year we had the added topical but paradoxical theme of 'austerity and extravagance' to take into account.

'Shoreline Symphony' by Eileen Harrisson was my artistic starting point (9th canvas down on the left side of this link).

So why the photo of rope and gull prints on an otherwise empty beach? My poem was set in what had once been a flourishing harbour. You can guess the rest.

Reach Poetry #205, Indigo Dreams Publishing

Bracelet Bay and the Mumbles Lighthouse, Swansea

An A5 package came through the letterbox this morning containing two magazines from Indigo Dreams Publishing, Reach Poetry #205 and The Dawntreader #032.

I have written before (here) about my long association with the press, and am always delighted when the latest copies arrive in my home. I tore open the envelope; and to my surprise, a cheque fluttered to the floor. My small poem about Bracelet Bay had come Second in the September contest of readers' votes. Thank you, Reach Poetry editor, Ronnie Goodyer!

My poem is a take (or perhaps a slight variation, since the key mid-line is split) on the Folding Mirror poetry form, devised by Dr. Marc Latham and included in The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics including Odd and Invented Forms by Lewis Putnam Turco (University Press of New England).

Reach Poetry is a monthly publication. You can subscribe for a year or buy a single copy. The Dawntreader (editor Dawn Bauling) comes out each quarter, and again you can buy a sample issue or an annual subscription. 

Poetry Round-up

Staffin ... Isle of Skye

Time for a quick poetry round-up ...

Due to time away and other commitments I have got behind with my postings, so here is a summary.

• I have been awarded Third-Equal in the Fixed Form Poet of the Year (2014) Challenge for the Metverse Muse (#38, ed. Dr. H. Tulsi, Visakhapatnam, India) competition in Category A. My poems in the international contest were 'Nightmare' and 'Feline Fancy'. My poems, 'Cattle Crossing, Staffin Bay' and 'Winter's Knife' have been published in this issue of Metverse Muse. 

• My poem, 'In the Wake of Prince Madoc', was Highly Commended in the inaugural Disability Arts Cymru Poetry Competition, judged by Menna Elfyn. The poem will appear in an eBook, alongside the artwork I selected as my inspiration. 

• I will be reading my poem, 'Dear Loris', at the Emma Press Launch of the anthology, Slow Things, in London on Tuesday 21 July. 

• My review of Mike Bannister's poetry book, The Green Man (translated into Romanian as Omul Verde) has appeared in Orizont Literar Contemporan, in the May-June 2015 issue. 

• My interview with Professor Don Riggs of Drexel University in Philadelphia has appeared in Made of Words (translated into Romanian as Făurit din cuvinte). Published in Romania under the aegis of Orizont Literar Contemporan.

'The With Words Haiku Book of Summer'

Ragged Robin on Skye

My 'Haiku: Skye summer' has been Highly Commended in the 2015 With Words Summer Haiku Competition. It will appear in the competition anthology, The With Words Haiku Book of Summer.  

Alan Summers of With Words is also planning to publish The With Words Book of Summer.

Poetry Certificate from Lidia Chiarelli

My thanks to Italian poet, Lidia Chiarelli, for this smart certificate. 

My thanks to Lidia of the international Immagine e Poesia movment 

for including my poem about the view through a dragonfly's eye

in the Poetry Basket at the Exhibition of 'Artists' Glances', 

mounted by Gianpiero and Lidia Actis in Turino. 

Sadly I was not in Italy for the exhibition, 

but my poem represented me!

You can take a virtual tour

on YouTube.

What would we see through these eyes?

• Previous post: The Fen Raft Spider - ZSL Poetry Competition

ZSL Debut Poetry Competition Poems

A pool at (Suffolk Wildlife Trust) Redgrave and Lopham Fen

My thanks to Talita Jenman, ZSL Arts and Culture Coordinator, for her post on my ZSL Poetry Competition win on the theme of 'conservation'.

You can read my Villanelle, 'Raft Race', about the Fen Raft Spider here, along with the other prize-winning entries. The competition was judged by members of ZSL Discovery & Learning department, ZSL Resident poet Ahren Warner and Poet and ZSL council member Ruth Padel.

From the East Anglian Daily Times and The Ipswich Star

16 January 2015

The photos on my post here were taken last August (2014), when we visited Redgrave and Lopham Fen. Sadly we failed to see any Fen Raft Spiders, though we enjoyed the chance to experience their habitat along the Spider Trail.

You can read more about the Fen Raft Spider here. 

Follow the red arrow!

Other reserve residents who enjoy the special fen landscape

We found lots of helpful information on our visit ...

Pushcart Nomination 2014

Sharmagne Leland-St. John and her team at Quill and Parchment (USA) have selected my poem, 'Elegy for Idris Davies', for a 2014 Pushcart Prize nomination.

The poem concerns the miner-turned-poet, Idris Davies, from the Rhymney Valley in South Wales.

A dram for transporting pieces of coal

ZSL 2014 Poetry Competition Win

I have just been sent a link to the Results Page of the 2014 ZSL Poetry Competition on 'Conservation' ...

Rule 15. The competition will be judged by members of ZSL Discovery & Learning department, ZSL Resident poet Ahren Warner and Poet and ZSL council member Ruth Padel.

Overall winner: Caroline Gill - Raft Race

My poem is about the plight of the Fen Raft Spider. 

One of the few locations in Suffolk where the Red Listed Fen Raft Spider still resides

Metverse Muse, India - Joint Second Place

My triple-issue copy of the international journal, Metverse Muse, edited by Dr. H. Tulsi in Visakhapatnam, India, arrived today. A glance at page 20 revealed that my two contest poems, a Petrarchan Sonnet (about pandas) and a Shakespearean Sonnet (about Pylos), had won me Joint Second Place with fellow UK poet, Pamela Trudie Hodge, in the Fixed Form 'A' category of the 2013 competition.

Many congratulations to Catherine Lee for taking First Place.

Reconstruction in Nestor's Palace, Homer's 'sandy Pylos', Peloponnese

 

Published Poetry ~ 'Otter Watch' in Reach Poetry magazine

Otter in Assynt, 2013

Thank you to all Reach Poetry readers for your votes on #180, listed in #181. My poem, 'Otter Watch', came second in the October issue of this magazine from Indigo Dreams Publishing. Congratulations to Tina Negus for her poem, 'Billy', which came 'top of the box'.

Poetry ~ Paragram Competition

Waterfront by night ...

Congratulations to the Paragram winners, whose poems you can read here.

My sonnet, 'Meteor Shower', made it through to the short list of the Paragram Poetry Competition, judged by Adrienne Dines. The competition theme was 'a certain slant of light', and my poem was written in response to the Perseid meteor shower seen from my home in August.

International Echoes (16): 5th Place in International Kite Kukai

iii

5TH PLACE

a kite arches
under the rainbow,
over the spring tide

# 08. Caroline Gill, UK

I was delighted to discover that my 'kite' Haiku above had come 5th in the Second International Kukai over on Rita Odeh's Catching the Moment blog.

Magazine Moment (26): Reach Poetry Surprise

West Country Light

I was delighted today to learn that my Glosa, 'A Softer Beauty', had taken First Prize in the Reach Poetry readers' votes for issue 154. Thank you very much, Ronnie and Dawn, for the cheque!

My poem builds around a quatrain by the eccentric West Country cleric, the Reverend R.S. Hawker, Vicar of Morwenstow, who wrote from a cliff-side driftwood hut, now in the care of the National Trust.

It was also a surprise to find a mention of my 'Turkish Delight' Tercet Ghazal in the Purple Patch review section (issue no.129), so thank you Geoff.

Prizes and Commendations (2): The T.S. Eliot prize

My thanks to Matt Merritt at Polyolbion for alerting me to the coverage of the prize ceremony on Jane Holland's blog, here. Derek Walcott won the prize with his Faber collection, White Egrets.

In case you have not caught up with the news reports, you can read The Guardian's feature here. 

Little Egret, Penclawdd, Gower, Wales, UK

 I recall a happy evening at Hay some years ago, when Derek Walcott answered questions and delivered his poetry to a packed auditorium. I was particularly pleased to have bought a copy of his 'Omeros' in the Poetry Bookshop that afternoon.

Above and below: Little Egret, Divari Lagoon, Pylos, Greece

N.B. My photos are not linked to locations or symbolic representations in the book, but it seemed a good opportunity to appreciate these fine birds! The Egretta alba, the Great White Egret, has black feet and a yellow bill, unlike the Little Egret on one leg in the Divari Lagoon photo.