The Ireland Chair of Poetry is delighted to announce the winners of the 2020 Student Award. Now in its second year, the Student Award is an initiative to encourage the writing of poetry within the three Universities who support the Trust.
Commenting on the submissions received for the 2020 Student Award, the adjudication panel, comprised of the Trustees together with the current Ireland Chair of Poetry, Professor Frank Ormsby, had this to say:
“We have read twenty-four applications and are pleased to award three bursaries to students from Queens University Belfast, two to students from University College Dublin and one to Trinity College, each worth €1000. The best work showed originality and an expansive vision, as well as a willingness to test the limits of form. We were often moved by transcendental moments, radiant childhood memories, celebrations of the world’s particularities. There is a sense of purpose in many of the poems it has been our privilege to read. These young writers are trying to say something in a shapely way. Understanding that poetry makes use of all of the things that words do, they enjoy attending to the exigencies of line and stanza. Their work has form and life-giving rhythm. It is generated by enquiring minds and strong senses. Between the lines we sense real presences, future poets.”
The Trust has decided to award the following students:
- Francesca Caposella (Trinity College Dublin)
- Anne Coughlan (Queen’s University Belfast)
- Sonya Gildea (University College Dublin)
- Jessica McKinney (Queen’s University Belfast)
- Tatiana Tatarchevskiy (University College Dublin)
- Sacha White (Queen’s University Belfast)
All prize winners have expressed their delight and thanks to the Trust, for the recognition and encouragement that this prize signifies to them.