We are pleased to host a workshop with Kim Moore on Saturday 23 April 2020, 10.30-12.30 at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.
The fee is £20. Please email davidborrott@btinternet.com to confirm a place. Once your place has been confirmed payment can be made using the PayPal button below:
Kim Moore’s pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in the 2011 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition. Her first collection The Art of Falling (Seren 2015) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection All The Men I Never Married was published by Seren in 2021. Her first non-fiction book What The Trumpet Taught Me will be published by Smith/Doorstop in March 2022.
Please come along to our annual competition event where judge Kim Moore, 1st prize winner Isabelle Thompson and 2nd prize winner Kathryn Bevis will read their winning poems (and others). Third prize winner Rosie Rockel is unfortunately unable to attend. Kim will also do a reading of her own work. Music from Chuva. The venue is the Whitworth Art Gallery, time 2.30-4.00. You will find all the information you need regarding visiting the Gallery on the Whitworth’s website here. The event is free and everyone is welcome.
Isabelle Thompson
Isabelle Thompson is a graduate with Distinction of Bath Spa University’s MA in Creative Writing, where she now works part time as a research assistant. She has been published or has work forthcoming in The Interpreter’s House, Rattle, 14 Magazine and The New Welsh Review, among others. She was a finalist in the 2021 Mslexia poetry competition. Her reviews appear regularly in Sphinx
Kathryn Bevis
Kathryn Bevis is a neurodivergent poet and poetry teacher. She was Hampshire Poet Laureate in 2020-21 and is the Selected Poet for Magma’sSolitude issue Her poems have appeared in Poetry Wales, Poetry Ireland Review, The London Magazine, Mslexia, and The Interpreter’s House. In 2019, she won the Poets & Players and the Against the Grain competitions. This past year, her poems have come second in the York Poetry Prize and the Edward Thomas Prize, have been commended in the Verve Poetry Competition and longlisted for the National Poetry Competition. Her pamphlet manuscript was highly commended in the 2021 Mslexia Pamphlet Competition. She designs and delivers Poetry for Wellbeing courses for adults in mental health settings, substance-misuse recovery settings, and prisons and is working towards her first collection.
Kim Moore’s pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in the 2011 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition. Her first collection The Art of Falling (Seren 2015) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection All The Men I Never Married was published by Seren in 2021. Her first non-fiction book What The Trumpet Taught Me will be published by Smith/Doorstop in March 2022.
Chuva
Chuva are a Manchester based mandolin/guitar duo that was founded in 2018 by guitarists Rafael Onyett and mandolinist/guitarists Borna Kuca, whilst studying at the Royal Northern College of Music. Under the tutelage of renowned guitarist Craig Ogden, the duo quickly developed a strong musical chemistry and have since performed frequently across the UK.
Such venues include Wakefield Cathedral, Whitworth Art Gallery, Southport Christ Church, Bury Parish Church, Instituto Cervantes and Bridgewater Hall as part of Craig Ogden’s ‘Big Guitar Weekend.’ Most recently the duo performed a live concert streamed online from Preston Museum as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Royal Overseas League annual music competition which will be held in London in October of 2021.
Although a Manchester-based duo, Borna originally hails from Croatia and Rafael is of Latin American heritage. The result is an interesting amalgamation of varied musical experiences and cultures, and an overall desire to explore music from different parts of the world. This is reflected in a diverse mixture of classical and folk repertoire and even the exploration of different folk instruments, such as the mandolin. In 2019, Duo Chuva developed an exciting live music and dance collaborative project, with a re-imagined performance of Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Suite. The project was debuted at the Instituto Cervantes, Manchester.
Please join us on Saturday 19 March, 2.30-4.00 at the Whitworth Art Gallery for a wonderful line-up of poets and musicians. You will find all the information you need regarding visiting the Gallery on the Whitworth’s website here. The event is free and everyone is welcome. Read all about the poets and musicians below:
Liz Berry
Liz Berry at Verve, Birmingham by Thom Bartley
Liz Berry was born in the Black Country and now lives in Birmingham. Her first book of poems, Black Country (Chatto 2014), a ‘sooty, soaring hymn to her native West Midlands’ (Guardian) received a Somerset Maugham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award and Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2014. Liz’s pamphlet The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018) was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice and the title poem won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem 2018. Her latest collection is The Dereliction (Hercules Editions, 2021), a collaboration with artist Tom Hicks.
Rishi Dastidar
A poem from Rishi Dastidar’s debut Ticker-tape was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2018. A pamphlet, the break of a wave, was published by Offord Road Books in 2019. His second collection, Saffron Jack, is published in the UK by Nine Arches Press. He is also editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair).
Natalie Rees
Natalie Rees published her debut pamphlet ‘Low Tide’ with Calder Valley Poetry in 2020. She was placed 2nd in the Poets & Players competition the same year by Sinead Morrissey. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester, and has been published and won prizes in the PENfro Poetry Competition, Flambard Press Poetry Prize, The Interpreter’s House, Ink, Sweat & Tears, and Prole. Originally from Ireland, Natalie now lives and works in Bradford, where she runs a private practice as a Play & Creative Arts Therapist.
Arian Sadr
Arian is an internationally recognised percussionist based in Manchester. He has performed widely as a solo artist, as well as collaborating with artists locally and internationally including performances with the BBC Philharmonic for BBC Music Day, a collaboration with musicians from Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, performance as Part of Edinburgh International Festival and others.
Arian currently teaches Persian drumming skills as well as other hand drums/Percussion instruments through workshops, one-to-one, and increasingly through schools and community groups. He has hosted many dynamic educational drumming workshops including ‘Drum and Paint’, the combination of experimental music and art, giving an opportunity to the audiences to experience and absorb the process of creation and improvisation.”
We are happy to be returning to the Whitworth Art Gallery on Saturday 12 February (2.30-4.00) after such a long absence and hope you will be able to join us for a wonderful line-up of poets and musicians. You will find all the information you need regarding visiting the Gallery on the Whitworth’s website here. The event is free and everyone is welcome. Read all about the poets and musicians below:
Jo Bell
Photo credit: Lee Allen
Jo Bell is a former archaeologist and poet whose work touches on the momentary and the grand; from small incidents of canal boat life, to the endless proofs that “History never repeats itself; but it often rhymes”. Nominated for the Ted Hughes Award, a winner of prizes including the Charles Causley Prize and much feted for her global poetry workshops, Jo’s latest collection is Kith (Nine Arches Press).
Evan Jones
Canadian poet Evan Jones has lived in Manchester since 2005. His first collection, Nothing Fell Today But Rain (2003), was a finalist for the Governor-General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Carcanet published his two most recent books in 2020, Later Emperors (poetry), and The Barbarians Arrive Today: Poems and Prose of C.P. Cavafy (translation from Modern Greek).
Rob Miles
Rob Miles is from Devon and lives in West Yorkshire. His poetry has appeared widely in magazines and anthologies. Rob has won or been runner up in various international journal and festival competitions. Some of Rob’s first places include the Philip Larkin Prize, judged by Don Paterson, and the Gingko/Resurgence Ecopoetry Prize, judged by Jo Shapcott and Imtiaz Dharker.
Conference of the Birds
Performed by: Chris Davis, Rachael Gladwin, Katy-Anne Bellis, Beka Haigh
Original poem by: Farid ud-Din Attar
Directed by: Beka Haigh
Musical Compositions by: Chris Davies
Movement Directed by: Gil Burns
Based on the Sufi poem of the same name, a flock of four magnificent birds will embark on a visual and musical journey across the globe. Using skilled puppetry and four-part harmony,the birds sing their story whilst making their way through the landscape to find their fate.
Conference of the Birds is a brand new outdoor theatre and music performance by Frolicked Outdoor Theatre, developed in partnership with Spot On Lancashire, Fylde Borough Council and Friends of Fairhaven Lake.
Conference of the Birds brings together critically acclaimed puppeteer and maker Beka Haigh with original music from Chris Davies.
Told with quirky humour, skilled puppetry and talented voices Frolicked’s latest show is a celebration of individuality and finding your own voice in a sea of voices.
Chris Davies is a Musician, Composer, Performer, Buddhist, Hairdresser and Oudist with over thirty years experience working in the Arts, mainly with visual theatre and dance. His current projects are composing music and performing in a new adaptation of the 12th century Sufi poem ‘The Conference of Birds’ by Farid ud-Din Attar; he continues to perform live accompaniment for the first full length animated film ever made ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’, with a play called ‘Spring Reign’ about the situation in Aleppo, Syria; he is saxophonist/raver with Mr Wilson’s Second Liners who play early 90’s dance classics in the style of a New Orleans Brass Band, a few haircuts, transforming the mind through Buddhist study and practice, and sound technician for Poets and Players. For more information please look here ~ http://www.musichris.co.uk
Frolicked is an outdoor theatre company making unique and visually striking experiences, with beautifully self-crafted creatures and characters, for outdoor audiences and unusual locations. With a mischievous sense of humour and captivating people of all ages and nationalities, Frolicked’s performances are interactive, engaging, intimate and a little bit magical…
Frolicked is run by Beka Haigh, an Artist, Director and Performer based in the North of England. Much of her work can be described by the term ‘live illustration’ and her portfolio includes live drawing or graphic recording (also known as ‘scribing’ or visual minute taking), 3D illustration, installation, and live performance. Her work often combines interactive performance, game design, illustration and technology in surprising ways.
Kim Moore’s pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in the 2011 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition. Her first collection The Art of Falling (Seren 2015) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection All The Men I Never Married was published by Seren in 2021. Her first non-fiction book What The Trumpet Taught Me will be published by Smith/Doorstop in March 2022.
What previous judges have said about the Poets & Players Competition:
I’ve long admired Poets & Players. Theirs were the first live readings I attended as a teenager, and I’ll never forget the thrill of it. It was such a pleasure to be asked to judge this competition, which was brilliantly organised, and drew in such a range of exciting poems, stacked with images that stuck in my mind, lines that I couldn’t shake. The formal diversity of the entries was wonderful, and shows that contemporary poetry is in excellent hands.(Seán Hewitt, 2021)
When Poets & Players asked me to judge their competition I happily agreed. It’s an organisation I have long admired, from its earliest days with the inspiring founder Linda Chase, to today’s impressive incarnation in the splendid Whitworth Gallery. (Pascale Petit, 2018)
Poets & Players is one of the most significant and impressive poetry organisations in the country: the quality of the readings it puts on, its presence in the city is remarkable, so I’m delighted to be part of it in judging this competition.(Michael Symmons Roberts, 2017)
What was electrifying about this year’s entries … was not just the wide and eclectic range of subject matters … but also the range of forms and tones, the many tongues and registers that together created a resonating and distinct entry of poetry. (Jackie Kay, 2016)
What a fabulously organised competition… One tries to dissuade people from the idea of competitions but if you’re going to have one have it like this. (Paul Muldoon, 2015)
It was actually really fun judging the competition because you get the sense of what is happening in poetry right now … it was fascinating to take the temperature, as it were, of contemporary poetry. I’d like to thank Poets and Players organisation for running the competition, for wanting to run the competition, but also in general for the work that they do in promoting poetry in Manchester and the broader area, it’s a commendable organisation and I’m delighted to be associated with it. (Vona Groarke, 2014)
This competition was scrupulously organised, and I loved the fact that the anonymity of the entries allowed each poem to speak for itself. (Jacob Polley, 2013)
COMPETITION RULES AND OTHER INFORMATION
Kim Moore will read ALL poems. All poems will be judged anonymously.
1st Prize: £600 2nd Prize: £200 3rd Prize: £100
Commended poets at the judge’s discretion.
Closing Date: Wednesday 23 February 2022
Winners will be informed by 4 April 2022 and will be invited to read alongside Kim Moore at the prize giving ceremony scheduled for Saturday 23 April 2022 (2.30-4.00pm). If you have not been notified by 4 April 2022, we are afraid you have not been successful.
RULES
The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16, except for members of the Poets & Players committee.
Poems can be on any subject, in any style or form, but must be the author’s own original work (no translations). They should not have appeared anywhere before, online or in print. Please do not submit poems that are currently under consideration elsewhere.
Maximum line length for individual poems is 40 lines (excluding title). Please do not include photographs or illustrations.
No changes can be made to poems once submitted and we regret that we are unable to provide feedback or make any refunds.
You may submit as many poems as you wish, accompanied by the appropriate payment and Entry Form/s.
Please note that all competition entries must reach us by 23 February 2022, up to 12 midnight on this date (GMT); Entries arriving after this date will not be considered.
HOW TO ENTER BY EMAIL
ALL entries must be accompanied by a completed Entry Form (see the link below):
Please email the completed Competition Entry Form and poems to poetsandplayerscomp@gmail.com
Please ensure that all poems are sent as a single attachment and not in the body of the email. Please use your name as the title of the email (poems and Entry Form can be in the same document but must be on separate pages). If you are submitting more than one poem you should include them all in the same attachment but please ensure pages are numbered and start each poem on a new page. Poems must be in English. Single spaced and font size 12. Please save documents as doc, docx or PDF.
You may enter as many poems as you wish but please ensure you add all poem titles to the Entry Form/s.
Please do not include your name or other identifying information on the same page as the poem/s. All poems will be judged anonymously.
Entry fee is £4 per poem or 3 for £10. Payment must be paid by PayPal.
IMPORTANT please include the PayPal reference number on the Entry Form.
Single poem £4
Three poems £10
CHECKLIST: Completed Entry Form including PayPal reference; poems on separate sheets (with no identifying information).
COPYRIGHT
Entrants retain copyright of their poems, however, we will publish the winning poems on our website and/or in the Whitworth Art Gallery. We would also hope to receive permission to make a video recording of the winners’ readings for use on social media.
We would like to invite you to our competition event with readings from judge Seán Hewitt and winners Julian Bishop (1st), Hugo Jeudy (2nd), Zelda Chappel (3rd) and Reemergence Prize winner Susan Shepherd. Please join us on Tuesday 4 May at 7pm (the event is free, tickets will be available from Eventbrite).
Seán Hewitt
Seán Hewitt lectures in English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and is a Book Critic for The Irish Times. He won a Northern Writers’ Award in 2016, the Resurgence Prize in 2017, and an Eric Gregory Award in 2019. Tongues of Fire (Cape, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2020. His next book, All Down Darkness Wide, will be published by Cape in the UK and Penguin Press in the USA in 2022.
Julian Bishop: First Prize
Julian Bishop is a former television journalist living in North London who was recently longlisted in the National Poetry Competition. A member of the collective group Poets For The Planet, he’s also a former runner-up in the Ginkgo Prize for Eco Poetry and one of four prize-winning poets featured in a 2020 pamphlet called Poems For The Planet. contact: twitter @julianbpoet Poems For The Planet available at: https://www.maggiebutt.co.uk/poets-for-the-planet
Hugo Jeudy: Second Prize
Hugo Jeudy is a high-school student currently living in Paris, France. This is his first publication.
Zelda Chappel: Third Prize
Zelda Chappel’s first full collection of poetry, The Girl in the Dog-tooth Coat, was published in 2015 by Bare Fiction Press. Her work has been published in a number of journals, magazines and anthologies both online and in print, including Butchers Dog, Interpreters House, RAUM and Under the Radar.
Susan Shepherd: Remergence Prize Winner
Susan Shepherd lives in the Scottish border town of Coldstream, where she works as a freelance journalist. Her first pamphlet, Wood End, was published by Shoestring Press in 2019 and her poems have appeared in The Interpreter’s House and The Poets’ Republic. She recently completed an MA in Creative Writing with the Open University. With her passion for history and a reporter’s eye, she often seeks to re-tell a story, or re-imagine events, through poetry.
We are pleased to reveal the names of the winners, highly commended and commended poets chosen by judge Seán Hewitt. With grateful thanks to Seán for all his work; much gratitude also to Rachel Davies for processing the competition entries; and finally, thank you to all entrants and all those who helped us to share the competition. A competition Zoom event with Seán Hewitt and the winners will be held on 4 May (details to follow).
First Prize: ‘Sitting For Caravaggio’ by Julian Bishop
Second Prize: ‘Untitled (The hallways)’ by Hugo Jeudy
Third Prize: ‘Lately, I have found myself wondering whether I could be a body’ by Zelda Chappel
Highly Commended Poems
Paul Stephenson Rose Segal Alex Matraxia
Commended Poems
Ian Macartney Mícheál McCann
THE WINNERS
Julian Bishop: First Prize
Julian Bishop is a former television journalist living in North London who was recently longlisted in the National Poetry Competition. A member of the collective group Poets For The Planet, he’s also a former runner-up in the Ginkgo Prize for Eco Poetry and one of four prize-winning poets featured in a 2020 pamphlet called Poems For The Planet. contact: twitter @julianbpoet Poems For The Planet available at: https://www.maggiebutt.co.uk/poets-for-the-planet
Seán Hewitt’s Comments
From the moment I read this poem, I was arrested by its control, its atmosphere, the precision of its images and the dark, tense story it unfolds. It is at once delicate and alarming in its exploration of power, art, and erotics. “Although we never // touch, I feel his fingers flicker over me.” You can almost feel your own breath fluttering while you read it, such is the skill of the writing, the gradual submersion, the attentive detail. As I read the entries, it was this poem that I found had seared itself into my memory. It refuses to be forgotten.
Hugo Jeudy: Second Prize
Hugo Jeudy is a high-school student currently living in Paris, France. This is his first publication.
Seán Hewitt’s Comments
This poem is full of images I couldn’t stop thinking about. Everything first seems characterised by a sort of spectral absence: the almonds no longer falling from a hand, something lent and not returned, the silence of the windmills, all are brought into focus by the opening image of the lacerated body. The syntax is daring and subtle, stranging the lines, slowing the pace so that each word feels carefully and deliberately placed. I was never sure what was happening, but, as with the best poems, this one opened a place for mystery, for meaning carried by a haunting, insistent music.
Zelda Chappel: Third Prize
Zelda Chappel’s first full collection of poetry, The Girl in the Dog-tooth Coat, was published in 2015 by Bare Fiction Press. Her work has been published in a number of journals, magazines and anthologies both online and in print, including Butchers Dog, Interpreters House, RAUM and Under the Radar.
Seán Hewitt’s Comments
I was startled by this poem’s careful and moving attempts to locate the self. In putting forward a lyric “I” that ‘has no fixed coordinates’, the poet manages to expand its possibilities, incorporating things outside the body into a fluid concept of selfhood. It’s a vulnerable and yet an assertive poem, full of rich images that push our understanding of where we exist, and how.
The 2021 Competition is now closed. Thank you to all who entered and also to everyone who shared. Winners will be contacted by 7 April.
We are pleased to announce the 9th poetry competition run by Poets & Players, one of Manchester’s leading organisers of poetry and music events.
Our judge for 2021 is Seán Hewitt
Seán Hewitt
Seán Hewitt lectures in English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and is a Book Critic for The Irish Times. He won a Northern Writers’ Award in 2016, the Resurgence Prize in 2017, and an Eric Gregory Award in 2019. Tongues of Fire (Cape, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2020. His next book, All Down Darkness Wide, will be published by Cape in the UK and Penguin Press in the USA in 2022.
A video message from judge Seán Hewitt:
What previous judges have said about the Poets & Players Competition:
When Poets & Players asked me to judge their competition I happily agreed. It’s an organisation I have long admired, from its earliest days with the inspiring founder Linda Chase, to today’s impressive incarnation in the splendid Whitworth Gallery. (Pascale Petit, 2018)
Poets & Players is one of the most significant and impressive poetry organisations in the country: the quality of the readings it puts on, its presence in the city is remarkable, so I’m delighted to be part of it in judging this competition. (Michael Symmons Roberts, 2017)
What was electrifying about this year’s entries … was not just the wide and eclectic range of subject matters … but also the range of forms and tones, the many tongues and registers that together created a resonating and distinct entry of poetry. (Jackie Kay, 2016)
What a fabulously organised competition… One tries to dissuade people from the idea of competitions but if you’re going to have one have it like this. (Paul Muldoon, 2015)
It was actually really fun judging the competition because you get the sense of what is happening in poetry right now … it was fascinating to take the temperature, as it were, of contemporary poetry. I’d like to thank Poets and Players organisation for running the competition, for wanting to run the competition, but also in general for the work that they do in promoting poetry in Manchester and the broader area, it’s a commendable organisation and I’m delighted to be associated with it. (Vona Groarke, 2014)
This competition was scrupulously organised, and I loved the fact that the anonymity of the entries allowed each poem to speak for itself. (Jacob Polley, 2013)
POETS & PLAYERS PRIZE
Seán Hewitt will read ALL poems. All poems will be judged anonymously.
1st Prize: £600
2nd Prize: £200
3rd Prize: £100
Commended poets at the judge’s discretion.
Closing Date: 1 March 2021
Winners will be informed by 7 April 2021 and will be invited to read alongside Seán Hewitt at the prize giving ceremony (date to be confirmed). If you have not been notified by 7 April 2021, we are afraid you have not been successful.
RULES AND OTHER INFORMATION
The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16, except for members of the Poets & Players committee.
Poems can be on any subject, in any style or form, but must be the author’s own original work (no translations). They should not have appeared anywhere before, online or in print. Please do not submit poems that are currently under consideration elsewhere.
Maximum line length for individual poems is 40 lines (excluding title). Please do not include photographs or illustrations.
No changes can be made to poems once submitted and we regret that we are unable to provide feedback or make any refunds.
You may submit as many poems as you wish, accompanied by the appropriate payment and Entry Form/s.
Please note that all competition entries must reach us by 1 March 2021, up to 12 midnight on this date (GMT); Entries arriving after this date will not be considered.
HOW TO ENTER BY EMAIL
ALL entries must be accompanied by a completed Entry Form (see the link below):
Please email the completed Competition Entry Form and poems to
P-Pcomp@mail.com
All email entries will be acknowledged.
Please ensure that all poems are sent as a single attachment and not in the body of the email. Please use your name as the title of the document (poems and Entry Form can be in the same document but must be on separate pages). If you are submitting more than one poem you should include them all in the same attachment but please ensure pages are numbered and start each poem on a new page. Poems must be in English. Single spaced and font size 12. Please save documents as doc, docx or PDF.
You may enter as many poems as you wish but please ensure you add all poem titles to the Entry Form/s.
Please do not include your name or other identifying information on the same page as the poem/s. All poems will be judged anonymously.
Entry fee is £4 per poem or 3 for £10. Email entries must be paid by PayPal. IMPORTANT please include the PayPal reference number on the Entry Form.
Single poem £4
Three poems £10
CHECKLIST: Completed Entry Form including PayPal reference; poems on separate sheets (with no identifying information).
COPYRIGHT
Entrants retain copyright of their poems, however, we will publish the winning poems on our website and/or in the Whitworth Art Gallery. We would also hope to receive permission to make a video recording of the winners reading for use on social media.
The results are in for our 2020 Reemergence Prize. We are happy to announce the winner is Susan Shepherd, you can read Susan’s poem, ‘The Flodden Horses’, followed by the judges’ report below. The judges also drew up a long list and those poets are listed in the report.
Susan Shepherd lives in the Scottish border town of Coldstream, where she works as a freelance journalist. Her first pamphlet, Wood End, was published by Shoestring Press in 2019 and her poems have appeared in The Interpreter’s House and The Poets’ Republic. She recently completed an MA in Creative Writing with the Open University. With her passion for history and a reporter’s eye, she often seeks to re-tell a story, or re-imagine events, through poetry.
The Flodden Horses
for Martha
No one had drunk himself foolish in the Newcastle Arms that year.
Bad weather on Cheviot
did not concern the Men’s Shed crew
who had not spent the first Sunday in August
threading the lampposts of the border town with bunting.
On Thursday
trailers did not cram the taped-off meadows of the Lees;
only Shorty McCann, in plastered overalls, walking to his builder’s van, stopped
to film an otter in the Leet Water.
And Sally Moffatt, returning from the night shift at Morrison’s
weighted with carriers
paused to look
but could see nothing.
By eleven o’clock, rain had arrived and the undiverted traffic
thundered on to Edinburgh.
Afterwards, those who witnessed it would say:
it began where the poplars had stood
until Foreman the butcher – newly retired to Orchard Cottage – felled them
to improve his view.
First came the Destriers, prized by knights, easy to train for war.
Then the Rouncers and the Coursers, flanks built for speed,
and the agile Palfreys men-at-arms prefer.
Next the Jennets and the Ambling horses, good for long distance.
And bringing up the rear, one Powys pony, of gentle temperament, hardy and calm.
And all were riderless, none burnt or scarred.
And every ear of every mare and gelding
twitched intact in the shimmering air;
and no flesh was pierced by an English bill.
Score by shadowy score, they streamed across McGregor’s fields
forded the Tweed at a long-forgotten crossing point
(which Geoff from Calico House later said
had been popular for picnics
in his grandfather’s day)
and were last seen entering an alder grove on the Cornhill side
on a track below Branxton Moor,
not yet spoils of battle; the Welsh pony keeping up
with a flick of his fine, grey tail.
You can watch Susan reading ‘The Flodden Horses’ on our YouTube channel:
Judges’ Report
Thank you to all those who entered our Poets & Players 2020 Prize on the theme of ‘Reemergence’. There was a fantastic response, which made our job as judges both difficult and rewarding. The number of poems and the breadth of subject matter were both surprising, and even more gratifying was the quality. We certainly had enough to fill a magazine, and it was hard choosing a winner. That said, the poem we have chosen won by a clear head.
We’re pleased then to announce that the prize goes to ‘The Flodden Horses’ by Susan Shepherd. This poem is powered by the sheer delight of its inundation of ghostly horses set among the normalities of life in the Borders. It delighted us by the skill of its timing, its lightness of touch, its humorous tone and the assurance of its animating detail. However, it does invite us to think, and be grateful that the horrors of that battle, hinted at in the third to last stanza, have become so distant.
We originally aimed to name no names other than the winner but the response was too strong. We decided it would be wrong not to highlight other authors whose poems came close at the finish. In alphabetical order these are:
Liz Byrne
Alison Campbell
Catherine Edmunds
John Gallas
Christopher M James
Janet Hatherley
Hazel Hutchinson
Vanessa Lampert
Jane Lovell
Sammy Weaver
We don’t mention titles so as to leave them free for anonymous submission elsewhere.
Malika Booker (bio below) will be tutor for a Zoom poetry workshop on Saturday 7 November at 10.30-12.30.
The fee for this workshop is £20. Please email davidborrott@btinternet.com to confirm a place. Once David has confirmed your place payment can be made using the PayPal button below:
Workshop Payment £20
Malika Booker
Photo credit: Siro Micheroli
Malika Booker is a British poet and theatre maker of Guyanese and Grenadian Parentage. And the founder of the writers collective, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. Her pamphlet Breadfruit, (flippedeye, 2007) received a Poetry Society recommendation and her poetry collection Pepper Seed (Peepal Tree Press, 2013) was shortlisted for the OCM Bocas prize and the Seamus Heaney Centre 2014 prize for first full collection. She is published with the Poets Sharon Olds and Warsan Shirein The Penguin Modern Poet Series 3:Your Family: Your Body (2017) and her poem Nine Nights, first published in The Poetry Review in autumn 2016, was shortlisted for Best Single Poem in the 2017 Forward Prize.
Malika received her MA from Goldsmiths University and has recently begun a PhD at the University of Newcastle. She was the Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow in Creative Writing at Leeds University, the first British poet to be a fellow at Cave Canem and the inaugural Poet in Residence at The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2020 Booker received a Cholmondeley Award for outstanding contribution to poetry.
Malika hosts and curates New Caribbean Voices, Peepal Tree Press’s literary podcast, and is currently a poetry Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Poets & Players 