THE winner of the Winchester Poetry Prize 2022 was selected from more than 2,000 entries around the world.

Winchester Poetry Festival hosted the seventh Winchester Poetry Prize ceremony on October 8 with a hybrid event inviting poets to attend in person at The Arc or online.

Luke Palmer from Corsham, in Wiltshire, was revealed as the winner for his poem Desire | Fathers and will be rewarded with £1,000. This year the competition, sponsored by Paris Smith LLP, received more than 2,000 with Luke having previously placed third in the 2020 competition.

Hampshire Chronicle:

The competition’s judge, poet Jo Bell, commended all the poets who had entered the competition for their courage. She said: “Entering a poetry competition is an act of exposure, of vulnerability, to offer up your poems to be judged.”

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The winning poet said: “I'm honoured to win the 2022 Winchester Poetry Prize, and more than a little shocked. The quality of the longlist was very high, and I spent the ceremony certain that I'd been overlooked and just happy to hear so many brilliant poems and be counted among them.

“I wrote Desire | Fathers just after the birth of our second daughter, and it's fitting that this award should come just before the arrival of our third. It was a difficult poem to write and is a difficult poem to read and hear. My biggest thanks go to Jo Bell for seeing in the poem what I think I was aiming for and for giving it this accolade.”

The rail strikes meant only three poets were able to make it in person, while 18 poets attended online. The event was also live-streamed so that audiences around the world could watch.

The prize for the best poem by a Hampshire-based poet, sponsored by Warren & Son, was won by Jeremy Wikeley for his poem The Sign Says Hungerford.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Festival chair, Jane Bryant, said: “The standard of entries this year has been exceptional and the ongoing popularity of the annual prize is immensely encouraging. Each year we have been able to attract a highly regarded judge for the competition, and the generous support of our sponsors enables us to give appropriate recognition to some outstanding poets.”

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Huw Miles from Paris Smith said: “We are delighted to once again sponsor Winchester Poetry Prize, a true highlight of Winchester’s arts calendar.  We hope our ongoing support encourages others to express themselves and to share their work with the widest of audiences.”

All the winning and commended poems are published in an anthology entitled at night we cross the street, available from Winchester Poetry Festival as well as P&G Wells Bookshop.

Winchester Poetry Festival’s programme includes a biennial festival, the annual poetry prize, an education and outreach programme, occasional events and celebrations and a number of published anthologies. The next festival is planned to take place in October 2023.  For more go to winchesterpoetryfestival.org.