‘Getting Older’ Poetry Competition Results

We’re delighted to announce the winners of our highly popular ‘Getting Older’ poetry competition, along with the commended and shortlisted poets. We received nearly 900 entries from all over the world – Australia, Canada, Nigeria and Ireland all popped into the competition inbox. The 35 poems on our shortlist range hugely in subject and tone, and demonstrate that getting older is a condition that lends itself to all manner of poetic treatments!

The three winning poets will each receive a cash prize and their poems will appear in Ten Poems about Getting Older edited by Costa-shortlisted poet John McCullough, to be published later this year. The five commended poets will each receive a set of Candlestick titles of their choice.

John McCullough says:

“Judging this competition was a great pleasure, though it was certainly a challenge owing to the number of brilliant poems. The three very different winning pieces between them show acute insight and astonishing imagery. They stun and uplift. Each of the writers behind them and the five commended poems has a fierce eye and finds a startlingly fresh perspective on ageing.”

Congratulations to all – and thank you to everyone who entered.
Di, Kathy and Ella, Candlestick Press Editorial Team

Winners

Alasdair Paterson – ‘Hop’
Elvire Roberts – ‘Kintsugi’
Mark Granier – ‘Colonoscopy’

Commended Poets

Cheryl Pearson
Clint King
Jacquie Shanahan
Marianne Jones
Tina Cole

Shortlisted Poets

Akwe Amosu
Alison Campbell
Anya Trofimova
Ben Wilkinson
Bernie Crawford
Bob Cooper
Christine Macfarlane
Consuelo Marshall
DA Prince
Darrell Hugueley
Deborah Harvey
Fiona Ritchie Walker
Gita Ralleigh
James Heaney
Jeffa Kay
Jill Sharp
Jo Field
Julian Turner
Massey Armistead
Michael Ray
Olga Dermott-Bond
Pamela Butler
Robert Hamberger
Sarah Grout
Stephen Keeler
Vanessa Lampert
Vic Pickup

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Previous competition winners

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Snow Poem Competition

Winners

‘Snow Day’      Lucy Jeynes
‘for the love of snow’      Joanne Key
‘The Symmetry of Snow’      Meda AA Stamper

Highly commended poets

Kerry Darbishire
Gill McEvoy
Jill Munro

Shortlisted poets

Jeanette Burton
Pat Childerhouse
John Foggin
Rhiannon Hooson
Christopher James
Claire Lynn
Beliz McKenzie
Hilary Robinson
Tom Sastry
Hannah Stone
Polly Walshe
Nicola Warwick
Sarah Ziman

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Breakfast Poem Competition

Winners

‘Toaster’      Olga Dermott-Bond
‘Breakfast with Mother’      Catherine Edmunds
‘Before the Lark’      Phil M Houghton

Shortlisted poets

Jeanette Burton
Pat Childerhouse
Christopher James
John Foggin
Rhiannon Hooson
Claire Lynn
Hilary Robinson
Tom Sastry
Hannah Stone
Polly Walshe
Nicola Warwick
Sarah Ziman

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Cloud Poem Competition

First Prize

‘Hazy, Massed, Dappled’      Lesley Saunders

Second Prize

‘Flight’      Sarah Westcott

Highly Commended

‘Cloud Break’      Michael Brown

‘Musings on Board Spacecraft Oasis 1’      Jeanette Burton

‘8.04pm’      Miriam Calleja

‘Nudging Clouds’      Shirley Anne Cook

‘Clouding Over’      Jonathan Davidson

‘Cloud Souls’      Louise Greig

‘Cloud Content’      Caroline Hammond

‘The Cloud Collector’      Christopher James

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Micropoem competition

First Prize: Roz Goddard @rozgoddard

Commended: Maria Taylor @MariaTaylor_

Commended: Matthew Paul @MatthewPaulPoet

Plus five additional runner-up prizes of a copy of The Twelve Poems of Christmas (Volume Seven) to:

Jeanette Burton @Nettie31
Karen Jane Cannon @KarenJaneCannon
Polly Atkin @pollyrowena
Maree Jaeger @MJPhotographer
Stephen Daniels @stephendaniels