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Winners Announced at Fenland Poet Laureate Awards Evening!

What an absolutely wonderful night we had! THANK YOU to everyone who took part, and everyone who came along to share such a lovely evening. It was fantastic to be able to hear the poems read out by their authors in the way that they should be heard, and the audiences response was brilliant. It makes us feel very proud!
There were a lot of wonderful entries, and it was tough to narrow it down, but it had to be done! The poems were judged by Writer and Director Paul Goetzee, Curator of Wisbech & Fenland Museum David Wright, and Atelier East’s Director Karen Harvey (you can find out more about the judges at the bottom of this post- if you are interested!). The judging was very difficult as the level of skill and talent was so high, so a massive CONGRATULATIONS goes out to everyone who took part.

We are delighted to announce the winners of the first ever Fenland Poet Laureate are…

The winner of the Junior Fenland Poet Laureate title is James Collingwood-Smith!
Second place goes to Oliver Swain, and third place to Jasmine Lemon.

The winner of the Young Fenland Poet Laureate title is Oliver Osborn!
Second place goes to  Charlotte Allington, and third place to Molly Windsor.

The winner of the (Adult) Fenland Poet Laureate title is Elaine Ewart!
Second place goes to Leanne Moden, and thid place to Marion Leeper.
Photo above: Paul Goetzee, Elaine Ewart, Karen Harvey, Oliver Osborn, David Wright and James Collingwood-Smith

We’ve had some great feedback, and we’d love to hear more from you if you were part of the evening, we are hoping that this will be the start of a along running competition which showcases the talented writers of the Fenland area!

Thank you again to everyone who has been involved in this wonderful project! And don’t forget, if you want the Poet Laureates to come to your event and write something amazing - let us know!

Leanne Moden reading ‘Fens’

James Collingwood-Smith reading ‘The Ancient Fens’

About the judges…

David Wright, Curator at Wisbech & Fenland Museum

David was born and educated on the Isle of Wight. After attending Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he gained a Hotel & Catering Diploma, he removed himself to London. After a variety of jobs in catering and retail he was fortunate to secure a position researching catalogue entries for the Dictionary of British Artists (1880-1940). This  introduced him to the National Art Library at the V&A.  At the end of his contract he joined staff of the V&A where he worked for the next 30 years, save for a 3-year interlude at Essex University, leaving the V&A in 2005. In January 2006 he took up the post of Curator at the Wisbech & Fenland Museum.

Paul Goetzee, Writer and Director.

Paul Goetzee is a writer and director. He ran a successful new writing theatre company in Liverpool for 20 years. He has held residencies at Essex University and Soho Theatre and had plays produced there and at the National Theatre. His play The Pilgrimage, especially written for young people, has been performed worldwide. He has worked extensively with young people in new writing projects at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, with the National, in schools, colleges and universities and as far afield as Finland, the Czech Republic and Romania. He is currently working on two films and a stage play and in his spare time runs a small theatre company for adults with learning difficulties. He is married with three grown-up children. He enjoys  anything to do with the outdoors, especially trees and the sea.

Karen Harvey, Artistic Director of Atelier East

Karen has written for many publications including Gomma magazine and the British Journal of Photography. Her poetry has been translated into performances at two London theatres and she won a prize for her short story The Path, which was transformed into a piece of contemporary dance by Retina International Dance company and toured the UK and Europe.

Posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012. RSS 2.0

Comments

2 Responses to “Winners Announced at Fenland Poet Laureate Awards Evening!”

1. Pearl Says:
   

   It was a really great evening. We really enjoyed it, so did the guests. We felt that during these very difficult times for so many, last Friday was like a ray of sunshine. To help folk find the joy in themselves to create, then to be able to pass that creation on to others is a beautiful gesture. Good luck to our young folk in their future, also thank you for giving some of us Senior members a chance to be a part of this also. God Bless everyone involved, looking forward to seeing the pictures.

   February 28th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
2. Alun Williams Says:
   

   Thank you for a wonderful evening . Both my wife and I enjoyed it very much. The experience of coming in the first 10 of the competition has inspired me to write more poetry. I thought the quality of the poetry was really very good especially among the young competitors . I really hope that the competition will continue for many years to come

   February 29th, 2012 at 12:57 pm

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