THE winners of the international Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry 2024 were announced by Penzance’s Morrab Library and The Myner Trust.

The prize winners, across all age categories, were revealed by the competition judges at an awards ceremony which took place at The Exchange, in Penzance, on Saturday, October 26, in front of an audience of fellow shortlisted poets, the judges and sponsors, and Library members. The competition was judged anonymously and received more than 1,300 entries across the adult and children’s prizes.

Award-winning poet, Katrina Naomi, judged the competition and chose ‘American Eclipse Sonnet’ by Miruna Fulgeanu as the overall winner.

Katrina said she “admired the poet's taut language and fine imagery” and described the poem as one that “offers more on every reading.”

Miruna was in attendance on Zoom, along with many of her fellow shortlisted poets, and she read her poem to the audience.

The second and third prize winners both live locally and attended the prize giving. Second prize was awarded to Julio Trujillo for his poem ‘The Whales’. Katrina said “I read many, many poems in response to the sea, ‘The Whales’ gave me surprising new perspectives on the ocean”.

Third prize was awarded to Abigail Ottley for her poem ‘Aged twenty-nine, she buys her first running shoes’ about which Katrina said: “The sense of place is evocative, the sense of moving on powerful. I found myself running alongside, willing the narrator on.”

Katrina, who congratulated all the shortlisted poets, said: “I'd like to offer my congratulations to everyone who is shortlisted and highly commended, and hope that these poets will feel heartened to have been picked out from such a huge number of entries. Many congratulations to the first, second and third prize poets. These are stunning poems.”

The poets were awarded £2,000 (1st prize), £1,000 (2nd prize) and £500 (3rd prize).

This year, the competition also featured a Sonnet Prize; all the poems written in this form were judged separately by the Arizona-based poet Jodie Hollander who attended the prize giving online.

She chose ‘After the Biopsy’ by Kyle Potvin, a USA based poet, as the winner of the Sonnet Prize of £1,500.

Jodie said: “What impressed me most about this winning sonnet was the seemingly effortless movement of a compelling narrative within the structure of the sonnet form. Accessible and compelling within a beautiful musical structure, this poem thrust its reader into a powerfully immediate emotional experience.”

She also chose two highly commended sonnets, ‘Play it London’ by Jez Punter and ‘Mother Playing Baseball’ by Nathan Congdon.

This year, the competition also included two age categories for children. The judges, Annamaria Murphy, Dicky Souray and Keith Sparrow, were thrilled with the volume and quality of competition entries this year and read hundreds of entries from across Cornwall and around the world.

Keith, who announced the winners of both the four to 11 and 12 to 17 category at the ceremony, said: “The standard was remarkable across the board, and made it very tough to whittle it down to a handful of favourites. Every single writer deserves a huge round of applause!”

“What a wonderful treat to read the many inspired and varied poems sent into the competition. From playful and witty, to poignant and evocative, to downright heartbreaking”.

The first prize winner in the four to 11 category was ‘Another Stroll Along the Thames’ by Martina Lima Barbata. Second prize was awarded to Charlie for his poem ‘Time’ and Charlotte Viohl was awarded third prize for her poem ‘Friendships’.

Dicky commented: “It was an enormous pleasure to judge the competition entries. It felt like I was spending time in the company of so many talented young people, as they shared their hearts and minds through such brilliantly crafted words and phrases. I was particularly drawn to pieces that balanced the everyday with the universal or those that demonstrated a unique perspective.”

The first prize poem in the 12 to 17 category was ‘The Drowners’ by Charlie Jolley which Dicky described as “nothing short of exceptional. Its maturity, precision and condensation of wider themes within a domestic microcosm was first class.”

The judges were unanimous in their tremendous praise for this poem.

The second prize was awarded to Junxin for their poem ‘Ginger’. Third prize was awarded to Charley Mack for her poem ‘Baby Ballet’. The highly commended poets in the children’s category were ‘Tea’ by Caitlyn Hutchinson, ‘Rocks and Clay Pots’ by Daisy Jackson and ‘Lost in Music’ by Evie Williams.

The Morrab Library librarian Lisa Di Tommaso commented: “The range of entries was fantastic, from those who tried their hand at poetry for the first time, to the winners who created such beautiful and evocative work. To know that our library played a part in inspiring so many to participate is very gratifying“.