The James Berry Fundraising Project presents A STORY I AM IN: A Benefit Performance Poetry, Music & Spoken Word celebrating James Berry’s Life in Literature

FRIDAY 27th SEPTEMBER

The James Berry Fundraising Project presents
A STORY I AM IN:
A Benefit Performance
Poetry, Music & Spoken Word celebrating James Berry’s Life in Literature

The Tabernacle, London W11
7pm - 10pm

Acclaimed poet James Berry celebrates 90 years of poetry, stories and song in 2014. James was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease nine years ago.  He has been in residential care for over two years, and during that time has been in five different care homes and has spent four months in hospital. Despite the serious nature of his illness, he continues to enjoy listening to poetry and talking about everything under the sun.  In this special fundraising benefit at the Tabernacle, fifteen outstanding poets, musician, performers and wordsmiths will share a stage to mark Berry’s life in words and bear witness to his contribution to the transformation of the national, Caribbean and international literary landscapes.
Featuring

Roger McGough, Grace Nichols, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Ian Macmillan, Maura Dooley, Andrew Motion, Michael Rosen, Hannah Lowe, John Agard, Inua Ellams, Dean Atta, Susanna Howard, Myra Barrs, Melanie Abrahams, Keith Waithe and special guests.

Tickets £45 each - price of ticket includes entertainment and a food buffet.

A limited number of Early Bird tickets are available at £35 (offer ends 12th Sept 2013) BOOK a ticket HERE
All Proceeds from the event go to the James Berry Trust.  Event in partnership with the Tabernacle.

The Goose in the Suitcase wins £5,000 in the 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition

The much awaited results of the 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition were announced on Wednesday 26 June as part of an evening of poetry and music at Porters in Cardiff City Centre. 
The First Prize of £5,000 was awarded to Geoff Lajbrok from Cambridge for his poem The Goose in the Suitcase. Geoff’s poems have, until now, he says “remained unshared and undiscovered, except by his family and close friends who are forced to listen to every word he writes”. He is however currently working on his first collection of poetry which he hopes to publish in the autumn.
Second Prize of £500 was awarded to Rosie Shepperd from London for her poem My milkman comes from Sarajevo and has beautiful hands.

Hitting the Road with Frida Kahlo, by Valerie Laws from Northumbria, was awarded Third Prize of £250 in the competition. 
The five equal runners-up in the competition, each receiving £50, are: Penny Ayers from Cheltenham for her poem Museum of Curiosities, Bramber, 1963; Charity Novick from Cambridgeshire for her poem Marital Routine; Pascale Petit from London for her poem My Father’s Mirror; Judith Taylor from Aberdeen for her poem Daffodils; and Anna Wigley from Cardiff for her poem Collecting the Casket.
The hard task of judging the 2013 Competition fell to National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke, former poet Laureate Andrew Motion and filter judge Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. 
 
Click here to read all of this year's winning poems and to find out more about the winners themselves.

The Cardiff International Poetry Competition is supported by Cardiff Council.

Source: Literature Wales

2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition Closing Date: Friday 15th February 2013

The closing date for the 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition is almost upon us! But don't fret if you haven't entered yet, there is still just enough time to send us your winning entry. The first prize-winner will walk away with a cheque for £5,000 for just one poem. Further prizes available are £500 for second place, £250 for third plus five runners-up will receive £50 each.

The competition is accessible to all; it doesn’t matter if you are an established poet or just dabble with verse now and then. All entries to the competition will be judged anonymously, so this is a great opportunity to have your poetry judged on its own merits.

The hard tasking of judging the 2013 competition will be down to none other than former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, and filter judge Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. For more information on the judges click here.

If you think you have what it takes to delight the judges and get your hands on the top prize of £5,000, then send Literature Wales your poems now. Just make sure your poem is no longer than 50 lines long, is unpublished, in English and is not a translation of another author’s work. Send it, along with your entry form and payment, to Literature Wales.

The closing date is Friday 15th February 2013

To download an entry form, visit: www.literaturewales.org/cipc/

Check out our interview with last year's winner here: http://bookapoet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/exclusive-interview-with-mark.html

Source: Literature Wales

Open: 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition - First Prize: £5,000

Literature Wales is delighted to announce that the 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition will be co-judged by none other than former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion and National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke. Welsh poet Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch will continue in her role as competition filter judge.

The competition is now open and accepting entries. The first prize-winner will walk away with a cheque for £5,000 for just one poem. Further prizes available are £500 for second place, £250 for third plus five runners up will receive £50 each. The competition is accessible to all; it doesn’t matter if you are an established poet or just dabble with verse now and then. All entries to the competition will be judged anonymously, so this is a great opportunity to have your poetry judged on its own merits.

So if you think you have what it takes to delight our judges and get your hands on the top prize of £5,000, then send us your poems now. Just make sure your poem is no longer than 50 lines long, is unpublished, in English and is not a translation of another author’s work, then send it, along with your entry form and payment, to Literature Wales. Full guidelines and Conditions of Entry can be found in the entry form.

Click here to download a copy of the entry form
or to receive a hard copy in the post, send a stamped, self addressed envelope to:
CIPC13, Literature Wales, 4th Floor, Cambrian Buildings,
Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff CF10 5FL

For more information on the 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition,
contact Literature Wales on: 029 2047 2266 / post@literaturewales.org

The 2013 Cardiff International Poetry Competition is administered by Literature Wales
and supported by Cardiff Council.

Source: Press release

Andrew Motion To Judge New Look Poetry Competition

The John Clare Cottage poetry competition is themed ‘Winning’ and local budding poets are invited to participate across three age categories; 11 and under, 12 to 17, 18 and over. Entry is free for the first two categories with a small entry fee of £4 for the 18 and over group. The deadline is 31 July when all poems should be received at John Clare Cottage.

Poems will be judged over the summer by a panel of judges chaired by Sir Andrew Motion. Finalists will be invited to read their poems at a prize-giving which will be a highlight of the Peterborough Poetry and Literature Festival, ‘We Love Words’. Cash prizes will range from £10 to £500. All winners and highly commended poems will be included in an anthology which will be published at the end of 2012.

www.clarecottage.org

01733 253330.

Send your poems to John Clare Cottage, 12 Woodgate, Helpston, Peterborough, PE6 7ED, following the poetry competition guidelines and mark the envelope Poetry Competition.