The 2025 BHAC Poetry Competition was brought to a delightful close with our awards ceremony held at The Brunswick on Sunday, November 16th. The ceremony was hosted by Competition organiser extraordinaire Kevin Rance. Sadly, this will be Kevin’s final BHAC Poetry Competition as he will shortly be leaving us for pastures new.
Poets and guests were treated to readings from poets Robin Houghton and Poetry Competition judge Jeremy Page. We were also extremely fortunate that all the winners and runners-up in the Competition were able to join us, and to perform for us their amazing poems!
The winning poems, chosen from over 600 entries, were as follows (click the titles to read):
Main Competition
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- 1st Prize: NW1 by Jill Fricker (pictured above with Jeremy Page)
- 2nd Prize: The Path Of A Tornado by Sophie Lewis
- 3rd Prize: In My Dreams by Robin Daglish
- Runners up:
- When Nothing Was Beyond Our Reach by Jefh Davies
- New Year by Morgaine Davidson
- I Walk In This Garden, Holding The Hands Of Dead Friends by Rebecca Zeman
- Last Night I Dreamed I Was A Well by Alberto Genk
Student Competition
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- 1st Prize: Snoopers Paradise by Sylvie Jane Lewis
- Runners up:
- Foxgloves by Laura Webb
- For You To Be Nineteen And For It To Be Summer by Annabelle Bentley
Highly Commended
The judge provided us with a list of additional poems that he felt were also of an extremely high standard. The authors have kindly agreed for us to publish them here.
Main Competition commended
- The Astrology Conference, Oxford, April 1977 by Sam Szanto
- Ghost Bus by Chris Goode
- Carried Off In by Andy Breckenridge
- September Again by Katrina Pike
- Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Sally Meyer
- Trebuchet by Judith Shaw
- At Leith Hill by Sean de Podesta
Student Competition commended
- Golden Hour by Martha Crivello
- The Water Remembers by Sadie Rockliffe
- Instructions For My Burial by Winifred Buckwell
- Rough brushstrokes of Rothko by Eva Hibbs
