Our final news round-up of the week takes a look at the winner of this years CLiPPA Poetry Prize. We also have the 2019 Hopkins Festival.
CLiPPA 2019 Poetry Prize
The winner of the 2019 CLiPPA (Centre for Literary in Primary Poetry Award) has been announced as Steven Camden. The spoken word artist will receive the £1,000 prize for his collection of poetry “Everything All At Once”, which has been published by Macmillan Books for Children.
The verses contained within the collection are all set at points during the school day in a High School setting. They depict the issues of that face the pupils from falling out to trying to fit in.
Camden was unanimously chosen by the judges as the winning entry and the chair of the judging panel felt that Camden’s collection had so much about it that recommended it. In addition to the mastery of the vibrant living and spoken language, there was also a deep understanding of exactly what goes on in the first few years at high school. All of the minor tragedies that come with being that age, of just working out what needs doing, how to do it and what to avoid. All the heartache and the anxious situations that occur, the laughter and the embarrassing moments. The collection is, he believes, a book to guide the individual through the tricky moments, almost as though the poet has made a record of his own experiences. He also went on to add that he felt it would be a very valuable too for any child who was about to embark on the path to secondary school.
The National Theatre, the Lyttleton Stage, held the award ceremony where Camden received both his cheque and a trophy in from of an audience of 900 school children.
There was fierce competition for the prize from four other collections with Eloise Greenfield’s “My Puppy Poet and Me” receiving high commendation from the judges.
31st Hopkins Festival Announced
Monasterevin has announced that the 31st annual festival dedicated to the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins will take place during the last weekend in July.
From 25th to 27th the town will be the host of the 31st Hopkins festival in honour of the Victorian poet who wrote any poems during his short life. Hopkins was a Catholic convert poet who was dedicated to the humility of the Jesuit, which meant that his poems were published posthumously in 1889 – 30 years after his death.
The last five years of the poet’s life were spent in Dublin. He was battling what is now believed to have been depression. His only pleasure during this time was his regular visits to Monasterevin House where he saw the Cassidy family.
The festival begins on Friday, with an art exhibition and a concert. Saturday’s events will include a lecture that will delve into the influences and relationships of the poet with John Milton and TS Eliot. The poet’s work will be explored in the afternoon.
There will also be a poetry reading event during the course of the weekend when members of the public will be offered the chance to read their favourite Hopkins poem out loud.
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