Sarah Leavesley
Lampshades & Glass Rivers
'Lampshades & Glass Rivers' follows a young woman’s love, marriage and attempts to conceive. Ada’s experiences are set against the background of her grandmother’s fleeing from Poland during the war. That suffering is always present, although unvoiced, along with her grandmother’s strength and endurance.
1st Prize: Sarah Leavesley
2nd Prize: Reuben Woolley
3rd Prize: Tista Austin
Judges
Sarah Kelly - Poet In Residence 2015
Dr Kerry Featherstone (Poet and Lecturer in English)
Judges comments
"A 'red-throated song' full of rooms containing relationships and rhythms that both comfort and disrupt the reader, as a family gathering might, one where tales are told in muted light, alternately sombre and heroic. These are tales of new life, old life and the edge of life – a heart-full and tender collection." - Sarah Kelly
"A carefully controlled sequence full of a woman’s half-told stories. There are fragile surfaces of glass and skin, but there is also an energy which finds anagrams and half-rhymes to play with. Twenty moments of experience and memory, rich in striking imagery." - Dr Kerry Featherstone
"...a sparkling example of how pared-down language, carefully controlled rhythm and crafting combined with rich imagery can make poems dazzle." - Emma Lee, Writer, for LondonGrip
'Lampshades & Glass Rivers' can be purchased through the University's Online Store via the link below.