North West Words Arts Night and Poetry from the 2013 Donegal Creameries Competition

Well, you had to arrive early last Thursday night to get a seat in Cafe Blend. The regular monthly NWW night was dedicated to readings of the shortlisted, highly commended, and winning poems from the Donegal Creameries and North West Words Poetry Prize 2013. Congratulations to all the winning entries and particularly to Monica Corish shown in the photo below being presented with her cup.

I always enjoy NWW, but this was definitely a particularly special night. Many of the poets were there to read, one had even travelled from Poland. For those who couldn't be there, a regular participant of NWW read out their poem. So, the audience got to hear all the shortlisted and winning poems. It was a rare treat with such a variety of voices and themes. 

The competition judge, Kate Newman, spoke generally about the competition entries and her judging process. And then, after each poem was read out, she explained why she had picked it, and what made it special for her. It was a pleasure to listen to her comments, and so obvious that she had invested much time and thought in her choices.

The winning entires were:

Winner: Monica Corish, Leitrim, Back Where We Started

2nd place: Eithne Reynolds, Dublin, The Shed

3rd place: Brendan Kinnane, Meath, Hammer

Highly Commended:
Edward O'Dwyer, Limerick, Texting God

Gavan Duffy, Dublin, Breakdown

Bogusia Wardein,  Poland, The First Letters of the Alphabet

Winifred McNulty, Donegal, Lloyd's Lighthouse

Shortlisted:

Anne O'Connell, Sligo, The Reek

Ellen Factor, Derry, Lovebirds

 

Connie Roberts, USA, Pallas Lake

Patrick Hull, Dublin, Windowseat

Guy Stephenson, Donegal, Veldtshoen

Maurice Keady, Dublin, A Centuary of Poppies

Clare O'Reilly, Kildare, Bog Woman

Congratulations to the poets above, the NWW team, and Cafe Blend for a lovely night.