After some stoic, mole-like rumination between @juliabird and I, we’re very happy to announce the winners of our 24/7 Poetry Challenge. Thank you to everyone who submitted poems – we were incredibly impressed with the variety and quality of work on show.

There must, however be a winner. So without further ado (drum roll…)

FIRST PLACE

Goes to @clarehepworthwain for ’A Sonnet For Clay Eaters’

RUNNERS-UP

’She Leaves’ by @oliviadawson
’A History of Rockets’ by @stephanie-arsoska
’Tunnelling-out’ by @pamthompson

We will be posting the winning poems on the CAMPUS blog very soon. A huge congratulations to you all!

S/hades
The moon’s distorted shadows
give false impressions of romance –
the scene does not match rose-tinted
views – clay feet of lawmakers gather
dust – they call for marriage redemption –
in dream streams – embrace is accepted –
but – bumps linger like moles under eyes
and eaves – supernatural thieves – tunnel
grief – ghosting through regret – so much
is promised in the present – yet so little
is given – images remain the same – glass
on glass on glass – smashed dreams – rockets
of celebration and exploration does not bode
well for our species – a candle burns – its wick
charred and scarred – and its light – unlike
the shades of falsehood – won’t exist – in 24~7

Whispers
Rosa Macpherson uploaded new file(s): whispers.docx to Digital Open Day 2014

Read the full assignment here: http://campus.poetryschool.com/?get_group_doc=126/1399461580-the-24-7-poetry-challenge.pdf

Will Barrett uploaded new file(s): first-collections-panel-transcript.pdf to Digital Open Day 2014

But I\’ll give some quick answers to those intro Q\’s –

1. I wrote a few poems when I was younger (just for myself). It became a serious pastime for me about 7 years ago when I started taking online courses/ clinics from Bill Greenwell (Exeter U) and then I also started taking online Poetry School courses.

2. fav. words – joy & enjoy

3. couple of fav. poets – Emily Dickinson, Kay Ryan, Milton Acorn

4. advice – it\’s very impt. to build, value & maintain ties in a community where we can share our work and encourage each other

Will Barrett uploaded new file(s): jen-hadfield-live-chat-transcript.pdf to Digital Open Day 2014

Hi everyone, here’s my digital response to Will’s questions:

1. I’m a very late starter (don’t ask!) but I’ve been writing poetry for about 5 years.
2. Favourite word today is Cockroach (just listen to the crunch).
3. Favourite poet (s) there are lots, but for today Selima Hill, Esther Morgan and Sharon Olds.
4. Best advice: pretend to be a Martian looking at something for the first time.

I’m looking forward to Kim’s surgery this evening and the secret words being released at midday!

Good luck everyone!

PoetrySchool uploaded new file(s): the-24-7-poetry-challenge.pdf to Digital Open Day 2014

Hi Everyone,

My digital Open Day Questions/Intro
1. How long have you been writing poetry for?
Since I was a kid, very intermittently. Took it up again around 1998/9, more solidly since 2003.
2. Favourite word?
Changes every 5 secs. ’Oops-a-daisy’ maybe, or ’hypotenuse’ or ’crescendo’ or…
3. Favourite poet?
Also changes. William Blake, TS Eliot, Ted Hughes…Anne Carson, Michael Symmons Roberts, Tiffany Atkinson…Jacques Prevert (French poet)
4. Best piece of writing advice?
Never accept any given thing (eg advice) without testing/examining it yourself first. Good life advice too.
🙂

Looking forward to Q&A with Jen Hadfield. Wish I had discovered the open day earlier…

Intro:
I have been writing poetry since I could write. I am improving slowly.

My most recent favourite word discovery is \”hiraeth\”. It is Welsh. It is about longing and home.

Rosemarie Waldrop\’s \”Lawn of Excluded Middle\” keeps pulling me back right now.

Advice: from Austin Kleon –
\”The secret: do good work and share it with people\”

1) Well I\’ve written the odd thing since I started working at the Poetry School, but I\’ve always been a reader not a writer. I write music – I find words a bit troublesome

2) It\’s not a real word but \’murmuressness\’ pleases me. Although I think it needs more \’m\’s\’

3) My favourite poet changes. I read \’Crow\’ by Ted Hughes obsessively between the ages of 18-21, but wouldn\’t call him my favourite poet. I also like Thomases (Hardy, RS, Edward). Gosh – very male list isn\’t it? Emily Dickinson, then, for balance.

4) Best advice? If you forget an idea it probably wasn\’t worth remembering in the first place.

1. How long have you been writing poetry for?
Since I was about 25.

2. Favourite word?
Dodecahedron – I\’ve never managed to get that into a poem though.

3. Favourite poet?
I tend to have favourite poems rather than poets – but I wouldn\’t go on a desert island without the collected Keats, Donaghy, Carson & Oswald.

4. Best piece of writing advice?
Bin your first answer to any question. Possibly your second too.

Favourite word – evolve

Favourite poet – it changes but recently Paul Farley, Vickki Feaver, James Christopher

Best piece of writing advice – write something every day.

Looking forward to taking part in this digital day and getting to know others.

1. How long have you been writing poetry for?
On and (mostly) off for 30 years or so. I tend to go through a patch of writing, submit a few poems then, when they\’re rejected, give up for a few years more. I\’m determined, since I started with the Poetry School last Feb, to dedicate time to writing more analytically, getting to understand which word is best in which position for the affect I\’m after

2. Favourite word?
\’just\’

3. Favourite poet?
Constantly changes but over the past few years I\’d say Alice Oswald, though David Harsent is edging up on the inside.

4. Best piece of writing advice?
To be completely immodest, that\’d be the response I tweeted to another tweet about what a poem had to have to be worthwhile: \’Balls to rules!\’.

I\’m looking forward to this Open Day and will be participating in the ‘Show Us Your Poems’ surgery and the \’24/7 Poetry Challenge\’.

My question for Jen is: When is a poem finished? I find it really difficult to know when to leave a poem – I often think it could be better, especially when I get more feedback from others. Conversely, I sometimes leave a poem too soon…