Poetry Competition winners announced
At the latter end of 2019, Newman University launched its annual Poetry Competition for students, staff and alumni to take part in.
The competition, which is now in its second year, was set-up by two of Newman University’s Alumni; Dr Graham McFarlane and Terry Murphy, both of whom were amongst the first students at the University.
Graham and Terry were the first Editor & Deputy Editor of Newman’s original Poetry Magazine in academic year 1968-69; the magazine and poetry evenings ran every term till 1971 when they graduated from Newman. The competition was launched as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2018 as both Graham and Terry wanted to recognise the importance of poetry for the future generations with the competition.
The competition saw 42 entries from numerous entrants which gave the judging panel of Dr Graham McFarlane, Terry Murphy, Dr Elizabeth-Jane Burnett (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing), Professor Peter Childs (Acting Vice-Chancellor), and Juliette Kumar (English student), a difficult task to choose a winner.
The winning poem was entitled Station and was written by staff member Emily Walton.
Second place was awarded to staff member Alison Rolfe for her poem Wild Dove.
Third place was then awarded to Alumna of the University Rebecca Wall for her poem Autism Awareness Day 2 April.
The winner receives a prize of £150 with the two runners-up receiving £50 each. A formal presentation for the winners took place yesterday, on Wednesday 19th February where both Emily and Alison were present and were able to read their poem aloud to those who attended.
1st place: Emily Walton – Station
2nd place: Alison Rolfe – Wild Dove
3rd place: Rebecca Wall – Autism Awareness Day 2 April