Liz Diamond with judge Jennie Osborne
​ after receiving her 1st place prize
 Picture
Pam Gidney, 3rd 

TEIGNMOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL 2016 – COMPETITION RESULTS
 
KEATS’ FOOTSTEPS COMPETITION
 
We are delighted to announce the list of prizewinners in our Keats’ Footsteps competition, which was restricted to entries from postcodes TQ14 and EX7. 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed poems are published in full. Click here for full text of poems.
 
Judge’s Report: Jennie Osborne
“Judging the local poems was no easy task – we have a wealth of talent in Teignmouth and Dawlish. There were poems that moved me, poems that made me laugh, closely observed poems describing places I know and love – and I could only choose three!
Poets who made my shortlist and merit an honourable mention are, in alphabetical order,
Andy Brown, Robin Buchanan, Vincent Canning, Anne Gwynn, Christina Siviter.
The three I came down to in the end, that stayed with me over the weeks, are all very different, and in their own ways, ambitious.”
 

FIRST PRIZE 
The Right Answer                                                                           Elizabeth Diamond
This is, of course, a very topical subject, but the poet finds a convincing, consistent voice,
which is the stronger for describing harrowing experiences in a matter-of-fact way, resisting the temptation either to over-emotionalise or to step outside and comment. The turn at the end brings the situation back home and places it firmly in our lap, without losing the integrity of the voice telling the story.
 
SECOND PRIZE 
Murmuration                                                                                   Mark Cooper
I loved the use of language here, its visual nature, its fresh, shifting images that conjure the idea of crow, rather than telling us about crows. It is an impossible task to speak in the voice of other beings, but I think an important one, if we are to try to fathom their otherness
 
THIRD PRIZE 
Ode to Keats, The Nightingale                                                   Pam Gidney
This response to Keats' Ode to a Nightingale, handles the form proficiently, without falling into the trap of copying Keats'nineteenth century idiom or distorting sense to fit the form. It echoes his tone, but in clear contemporary language.