Theme: ‘In response to Gray’s Elegy’
The Stoke Poges Society is pleased to announce the results of their 2015 poetry competition – the second of three annual poetry competitions organised by the Society to celebrate the tercentenary of Gray’s birth in 2016.
Judged by the poet Carol Rumens, who is Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Bangor University, the winners of the Open Class competition are:
First Prize: After the Funeral(£250) by Charlotte Stevens from London
Second Prize: Elegy (£100) by Claudia Daventry from Scotland
Third Prize: Unlettered (£60) by Emma Harding from Kent
Carol found the overall quality excellent: strong on craftsmanship and strong on relevance to the Elegy. To reflect this she decided to award five Highly Commendeds rather than the planned three.
The Man Who Turned into a Water Feature by Mark Fiddes
Bill’s Elegy by Lorna Dexter
At Curfew Time by Mike Lee
Iceland by Catherine Faulds
The Two of Us by Mandy Pannett
Commenting on the results, she said “The chosen poems are both keeping faith with the Elegy, a work that’s timeless and for all times, and subtly re-imagining and renewing its themes in terms of a 21st. century consciousness”.
From the relatively small number of entries in the School Class, our judge Roger Askew, Chairman of the Society, selected:
First Prize: Extra by Joe Williams from Gloucester
Second Prize: Stones by Miriam Ettrick from Leicester
and awarded three Highly Commendeds
Feelings in a Country Churchyard by Réka Wiltshire
An Elegy Written in My Backyard by Thivyaa Rahulan
The Bells by Ilakiya Saravanan
Roger was impressed by the overall standard and very pleased to read entries from 10 and 11 year olds who had really got to grips with Gray’s mood and poetic technique while evoking their own experiences.
The Stoke Poges Society would like to thank all the entrants who proved that the Elegy can still be a source of insight and inspiration.
The awards will be made at a reception to be held at St Giles’ Church, Stoke Poges, in September.
