The 2018 Ledbury Poetry Competition Winners have been announced!

Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Competition! There were over 1000 entries, and judge Nia Davies read each and every one.

On judging the competition, Nia said: "I feel honoured to have had a special private view of the kind of things people are thinking about through the medium of poetry right now. It was a joy to spend every morning over coffee rummaging through the pile. People are deeply concerned about homelessness and the earth, but they’re also funny and kind and loving. The winners and runners up were the poems that, as well as taking a sideways glance at a subject, also stretched and invigorated language and the form of the poem itself. And they gave me vivid feelings in the belly, the kind of feelings, even, that make me want to write poems myself"

R.T.A. Parker was the overall winner, with his poem titled "All the Bleak Chippies". Richard wins £1000 and a residential course at Ty Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales. R.T.A.Parker says: “It was a great and marvellous surprise to win the Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition. It’s an honour to be in the august company of the previous winners, and to have my poem read alongside theirs. Winning this prize is a personal boost and persuades me that I’m on the right track poetically – it’s a wondrous thing that poems about interstellar chip shops can be recognised in 2018!"

On the winning poem, Nia said: "this poem did everything, it made me laugh in its absurd concern for the post-apocalyptic takeaway situation but it also channels the anxiety we feel in the face of a future that may be homogenised and stripped of distinctive human culture.  I checked and checked to know if this was the one and in the end I couldn’t leave it alone. "

The poem, and the other winning poems can be read on the Festival website here

2nd prize goes to Pam Thompson who wins £500 with "Through the Hologram",
and Third Prize of £250 to Robbie Burton with "Deeds"

The Winners in the Young Person's  category are:
1st prize £100: Annie Fan "essay on grief/ a holiday"
2nd prize £50: Georgie Woodhead "Collins"
and 3rd prize £25: Lauren Edwards "The Night You Attacked Me"

And the Children's category winners are:
1st Aurora Blue
2nd Maxwell Heavens
3rd Mrugakshi

The winning poems are on the website, with details on all the winning poets, and far more commentary from the judge Nia Davies. We are very grateful to Nia for all her hard work, to Ty Newydd for their sponsorship of the first prize, and especially grateful to all the entrants who took the courage to submit their poems. We hope you are encouraged and emboldened to keep writing and developing your craft.

We look forward to seeing you at the winners' event in 2019! Listen to the podcast of this year's event here!