National Poetry Competition 2014 - First Prize: Roger Philip Dennis for the poem Corkscrew Hill Photo; accompanying film directed by James William Norton.
The Poetry Society’s annual National Poetry Competition is for previously unpublished single poems.
Filmpoems of the top three winning poems have been commissioned in partnership with Alastair Cook and Filmpoem. Filmpoems of all eleven winning poems will be available to watch later this year, and will tour at festivals around the country and beyond.
The judges said of the winning poem: "Corkscrew Hill Photo caught my eye when reading through a large batch of entries. It seemed to contain a strange mix of naivety and complexity. Its sonic effects were engrossing. Its phrasing was surprising and fresh – 'the casement steams with sunset', 'seagull clutter, gape of lime kiln'. Most of all, I couldn't quite grasp what it was about, but in the best of ways – I wanted to reread and make my own story from what I was being offered. Like all good poems, it offered the shared experience of writership and readership. It's not a typical ekphrastic poem, and I couldn't place it geographically or timewise (does it jump backwards and forwards?), but that didn't matter. It's a stunning poem which mixes sweetness, sentiment, the visual and a touch of the grotesque. I am glad we found it." Roddy Lumsden
poetrysociety.org.uk
filmpoem.com
jwnorton.co.uk