We are pleased to announce the winners of the Timothy Corsellis Prize 2019, marking the anniversary of Timothy Corsellis’s death.
The Timothy Corsellis Prize was set up in memory of the young poet Timothy Corsellis, both as a memorial and an encouragement to others to explore the often overlooked field of Second World War poetry.
2019 is the sixth year of the Corsellis Prize, and once again the judges were so impressed by the standard of the poems submitted by young people from around the world. Submissions came from countries as far afield as Brazil, Switzerland, India, Hungary, Serbia, the USA and all parts of the UK. Young writers responded to the life and work of nine poets of the Second World War: Keith Douglas, Sidney Keyes, Alun Lewis, John Jarmain, Henry Reed, Anna Akhmatova, Gertrud Kolmar, Günter Eich, Miklós Radnóti and Timothy Corsellis. This year we were glad to introduce Miklós Radnóti to our roster of poets, with an introduction by George Szirtes. We were impressed with the imaginative responses to his life and work, and pleased that three of the top ten poems were inspired by Radnóti, including the first-prize winning poem ‘Mégy egyet kérnék szépen (one more please)’.
With 2019 marking 75 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy, we particularly encouraged young poets to read and respond to the works of Keith Douglas, who was killed during that invasion. We were pleased that two of the winning poems, ‘vergissmeinnicht’ and ‘Gold Beach’, responded to Douglas’ legacy.
The judges for the Timothy Corsellis Prize is Fran Brearton, MRIA, Professor of Modern Poetry at Queen’s University Belfast, and a recognised authority on 20th century war poetry; Karen Leeder, FRSA, poet and professor of Modern German Literature at New College, Oxford; Jacquie Reich, Senior Producer, Public Engagement & Learning at the Imperial War Museum in London; and Judith Palmer, Director of The Poetry Society.
Out of the many brilliant competition entries we received, we are now delighted to announce our winners:
Winner:
‘Mégy egyet kérnék szépen (one more please)’ by Chloe Elliott
2nd Prize:
‘dead language’ by Ella Standage
3rd Prize:
‘Pacify – if Alun Lewis had a Daughter’ by Yvette Naden
Commended:
‘Tapestry of War’ by Rachel Haddy
‘this notch of time’ by Maggie Wang
‘vergissmeinnicht’ by Amy Wolstenholme
‘Alluvion’ by Emily Liu
‘Cambridge 1941’ by Eleanor Fullwood
‘Gold Beach’ by Jack Cooper
‘Aria for the Dead Ones’ by Peter LaBerge
Congratulations to these brilliant young poets. Read the winning poems here.
We would also like to congratulate the poets who made it to the judges’ longlist. They were: Daniel Baksi, Luke Brand, Alice Brooker, Coco Cottam, Rob Dallos, April Egan, Alice Fagan, Jonny Gleadell, Winston Hammond, Courtney Hart, Tallulah Howarth, Molly Jankowski, Marina McCready, Amy McGinn, Andrew Millham, Natalie Perman, Lily Rachel, Tanya Singh, Jamie Smith, Tara Stankovic, Ellora Sutton, Olivia Todd and Anna Westwig. Well done!
Congratulations again to these young writers, and many thanks to everyone who participated.
Find out more about the Timothy Corsellis Prize.
10 October 2019.