2017 Competition Winners

The Open House Competition

Congratulations to the 2017 winners, judged by Niall Campbell, author of Moontide (Bloodaxe, 2014) and winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize.

Winner

Tom Kelly
The Transcriber


ABOUT THE JUDGE

Niall Campbell is a Scottish poet originally from South Uist in the Western Isles. He has been recipient of an Eric Gregory Award and a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, both in 2011. Moontide, his first collection (Bloodaxe, 2014) was the inaugural winner of the £20,000 Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize, and received the Saltire First Book of the Year, both in 2014. Moontide was also shortlisted for both The Forward and The Aldeburgh prizes for Best First Collection, and given a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

Runner Up

Maurice Devitt
Sixteenth of September


Shortlist

Catherine Edmunds
This Time Without the Sting

Mary Mulholand
Breton Girls Spinning

Roger Caldwell
A Visit to the Clock Museum

Frances-Anne King
Elena

Jack Houston
Jemima & The Mind

Jim Caruth
The Master's Grip in Lahore

Jo Bell
Olga and Fernande compare notes on Pablo Picasso while making Macarons

Third

Frances-Anne King
Heart


PAST winners

2016

2015


'Judging the competition was a real privilege. I was struck by the quality as well as the variety of work... Poem, on poem, on poem, welcomed me in to its little, self-contained world. Also, in poem, on poem, on poem, I found something that impressed or moved or startled. It was a rewarding and challenging process to whittle it down – but I think these selected poems in particular, either in their scale or their intimacy, have something that I wanted to celebrate.'

Niall Campbell