Judge’s comments
Wendy Pratt, author of The Ghost lake and Blackbird Singing at Dusk, founder of Spelt magazine.
Poetry, like any art form, is a means by which the writer translates the world through the lens of their own experience. Art holds a mirror up to the world.
When times are unsettled, this is what we see expressed in poetry. I was worried that we might see the world reflected back through the despair that we all must feel to some extent right now, and so I found it heartening to read so many poems in which hope was a seed, a soil particle, a tree or a bird.
Poems in which nature was part deity, part practical help, part environment, part friend. There was anger too, and frustration, and poems that were personal and heart-breaking and it was humbling to read these poems. But, especially with the poems of the younger generation, I came away from this year’s judging experience imbued with a sense of future safety; certain that the youth of today are aware of our failings and won’t stand for the destruction of what they hold dear, when their time comes to take over the world.
The theme for this year’s competition was ‘In the Garden’. The responses to this theme were wide ranging from the small moments of pleasure to be found in getting your hands in the soil, to a much wider perspective on responsibility for the world. A recurring theme was one in which the choices we make in our gardens are reflected in the choices we make in wild spaces, and the responsibility sits firmly with us in how we protect and care for those spaces. The choice is ours to make. I think this has been the hardest year to judge, all the poems I read could have been winners. But sadly, not every poem can win, and excellence should be rewarded and encouraged.
The following are the winners, special mentions and finalists in each category
Click on heading for each category to read the poems
11 & Under
Winner
Dreams of Light – Maya Pal, London
Special Mentions
A Hideaway – Lyla Bullock, Australia
Wings – Florence Dreier, Oxford
Finalists
Honey – Arthur Rose, Gloucester
Where Coral Meets Fungus – Ziva Patel, Kent
Blackbird – Matilda Jobson, Ireland
The Last Leaf – Advait Anand, USA
The Guest – Sidhiksha Prasad, Epsom
12 to 17
Winner
The Field Grows Us – Chioma Nwabufoh, Camden
Special Mentions
The Garden Inventory – Muskan Kumari, India
Under the Shade of History- Maya Y, Australia
Finalists
After the Gate – Khushi Kumari, India
Press On, Press Deep – Harshit Malavaliya, India
On the Management of Perimeters – Diya Matreja, India
In My Future Garden – Gracie Chapman, Birmingham
The Geography of What is Tended- Areeba Arjani, Canada
18 & Over
Winner
OUTSIDE – Susan Thomas, Arundel
Special Mentions
Inheritance – Helen Kay, Crewe
telling the bees but – Milla van der Have – Utrecht
Finalists
Grow – Joe Spivey, Leeds
Neighbours – Ted Gooda, Billingshurst
A Cultural Exchange – Elizabeth Holt, Hull
On a Wet Winter’s evening in February – Anna Somerset, London
Digging the family garden – Mary Mulholland, London