Winners of the Waterford Poetry Prize 2022 announced
The Arts Office, Waterford City and County Council is pleased to announce the winners of the national Waterford Poetry Prize 2022.
First prize goes to ‘In Between’ by Ian Hickey, Limerick. Ian Hickey grew up and lives in Limerick City. He currently works as a lecturer, teaching English literature. His first book Haunted Heaney: Spectres and the Poetry was published by Routledge in 2021 which was the joint winner of the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies Monograph prize. He is developing his interest in poetry. His passion in life in surfing, and he says would give up everything to just spend to rest of his days aimlessly wandering Ireland’s west coast in search of waves. Ian was awarded €400 plus a course at the Molly Keane Writers Retreat, Ardmore.
Second prize goes to ‘A Break in the Weather’ by Christina Park, Wexford. Christina is a freelance writer and editor based in Wexford who has had pieces published in various national newspapers, and broadcast on RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, the Stinging Fly, the SHOp and Crannóg. She was shortlisted for the 2015 Bridport Prize, runner up in the 2020 Trócaire/Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition and placed second in the Shahidah Janjua Poetry Competition 2022. Christina receives €300 in prize money plus a writing course in Ardmore, Co. Waterford.
Third Prize is Pigs Meat by Ciarán O’ Rourke, Galway. Ciarán’s first collection The Buried Breath, was highly commended by the Forward Foundation in 2019. His second collection Phantom Gang has just been published by The Irish Pages Press. He is a previous winner of the Cúirt New Irish Writing Award, the Fish Poetry Prize, and the Westport Poetry Prize. More information about his work is available on www.ragpickerpoetry.net. Ciarán was awarded €200.
Margaret Organ, Arts Officer said that the Waterford Poetry Prize was an integral part of the Waterford Writers Weekend and that it played a part in stimulating new poetry from all over the country. She thanked everyone who has taken the time to enter and remarked on the energy and enthusiasm of the writer Colm Keegan who took considerable time over the adjudication process. You can see Colm Keegan read the winning poems and give the background as to why he chose them on the YouTube section of www.imagineartsfestival.com
ENDS
