BHAC 2019 Poetry Festival and Competition Results

BHAC 2019 POETRY FESTIVAL

3-7pm – 24th November 2019

at the

Old Market, 11A Upper Market St, Brighton

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This year’s Brighton & Hove Arts Council’s Poetry Festival at The Old Market proved to be a great success with a sell-out crowd enjoying the raucousness of Hollie McNish, the thoughtful poetry of Cecilia Knapp and strident tones of Usaama Minhas.   Mike Parker of Hammer & Tongue fired the event into life with some dazzling dad-dancing before launching into the Slam – a competition between the two main Uni’s in Sussex, which the University of Brighton edged in a tight contest.

 

 

The Winners of the BHAC 2019 Poetry Competition, in partnership with the University of Brighton, strode on stage and entertained the audience with their personal, diverse take on life before this year’s competition judge, Dr. Jess Moriarty, announced the outright winner – Jess Butcher with ‘Swipe Right for Mr. Cool.’

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The bar was crammed in the intervals with the audience taking advantage of the food provided by local company Higgidy whilst enjoying talented swing guitarist, Nils Solberg.

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At the end, after Hollie had kept all enraptured, the audience filed out into the evening with smiles on their faces.   Fun seemed to be the key word.

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The poetry competition results are listed, and can be individually accessed, below.

First prize – £1000

Swipe right for Mr Cool

by Jess Butcher

View PDF – Swipe Right for Mr Cool

Runner up – £250

First one gone

by Niki Strange

View PDF – 123 – First-one-gone

Second runner up – Work, Write, Live creative writing course (University of Brighton)

East Croydon connection

by Louise Winters

View PDF – 461 East Croydon Connection

Four highly commended prizes – £25

Two years later

by Liz Eastwood

View PDF 467 – Two-Years-Later (2)

Swimming off the nudist beach

by Lucy Cage

View PDF – 270 – Swimming-Off-The-Nudist-Beach-On-The-Hottest-Day-Of-The-Year

Rock chick rant

by Sylvia Daley

View PDF – 088 – Rock Chick Rant

The Rookery

by Veronique Batten

View PDF – 104 – The Rookery

First prize – student competition – £150

Hylas vanishing

by Grace Tower

View PDF – S033 – Hylas-vanishing

Runner up (1)

Krakening

by Paul Ord

View PDF – S028 – Krakening

Runner up (2)

Train writing

by Hazel Rogers

View PDF – S039 – Train writing

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