Poetry competition 2010
Our thanks go to all those who entered and to Billy Collins and Brian Moses for reading every poem and selecting the winners. Our thanks too, of course, to everyone who sent a poem in. Please don’t be disheartened if you didn't win this time and keep on writing.
Read the poems by the 2010 winners here>
Highly respected, Ledbury Poetry Competition is renowned for spotting new talent first. Our 2009 winner Mick Wood read his poem on The Guardian Books Podcast with Claire Armistead. 2001winner Jacob Polley has since published two collections with Picador. 2005 winner Mike Barlow went on to win the 2006 National Poetry Competition. His book Another Place is published by Salt Modern Poets. 2006 winner Christopher Jame's book The Invention of Butterfly is now published by Ragged Raven Poetry and he went on to win the 2008 National Poetry Competition.
The First Prize in the adult category is a Ty Newydd writing course. Ty Newydd, the National Writers' Centre for Wales, is renowned for its excellent residential writing courses, taught by outstanding poets, in a stunning location. Visit www.tynewydd.org for more information about the courses on offer.
Competition winners are also offered the chance to read at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, to meet other poets and to enjoy the other events.
“Winning at Ledbury was wonderful.” Jacob Polley
Judges
Billy Collins (Adult)
Former United States Poet Laureate, Billy Collins combines high critical acclaim with broad popular appeal. Many call his poetry accessible. Billy Collins prefers the term hospitable. "Luring his readers into the poem with humour, Mr Collins leads them unwittingly into deeper, more serious places, a kind of journey from the familiar to quirky to unexpected territory, sometimes tender often profound." (The New York Times) His collections of poetry include Ballistics, Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, Questions About Angels andThe Art of Drowning.
Billy Collins is appearing exclusively at Ledbury as poet in residence during the Festival, where he will lead workshops and give a reading of his own work.
Brian Moses (Children and Young People)
Hugely popular, Brian Moses has written and edited over 150 books for children and teachers. He performs widely, using percussion to emphasise the rhythms in his poems. His books include, The Beetle in the Bathroom, The Budgie Like to Boogie, Behind the Staffroom Door and Greetings Earthlings: Space Poems written with James Carter.
Read the poems by the 2010 winners here>
2010 winners
Category A (Adult section)
1st prize - Maitreyabandhu
2nd prize - Edward Barker
3rd Prize - Roy Marshall
Category Y (12-17)
1st Prize - Jasmine Mueller-Hsia
2nd Prize - Ella Zhelong Mi
3rd Prize - Emily Oldham
Category C (11 & under)
1st Prize - Hugo Grundy
2nd Prize - Rachel Price
3rd Prize - Aimee Lauren Hilly Hughes
Commended in Category A
Carole Bromley for 'Crossing'
Frank Hooley for 'Collateral Damage'
Julia Deakin for 'Play
Declan O'Reilly for 'The Nobleness of Life'
Mary King for 'On the Right Hand of God'
C.J. Driver for
'In the Water- Margins'
Commended in Category Y
Maggie Tate for 'November'
Pauline Suwanban for 'Untitled'
Karensa Fitzwilliams for 'You'
Emily Oldham for 'Close the Curtain'
Commended in Category C
Elizabeth Tate for 'The Wild Boy'
Natahsa Wait for 'Why?'
Dualtogh Grundy for 'Museo di Archeologica, Naples'
Judges
Billy Collins (Adult)
Former United States Poet Laureate, Billy Collins combines high critical acclaim with broad popular appeal.
Brian Moses
(Children and Young Persons)
Hugely popular, Brian Moses has written and edited over 150 books for children and teachers.
Prizes
Ty Newydd
The National Writers' Centre for Wales.
Read 2010's competition winners here.