The Sylvia Plath Prize
Winning, commended and shortlisted poems
Congratulations to all our winning, commended and shortlisted poets. The competition attracted approximately 1800 poems from around the world. Our top 17 poems include entries from France, Greece, Ireland, and the US, as well as from all corners of the UK.
Winning and commended poems will be published in After Sylvia (Nine Arches Press) due in October 2022 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Sylvia Plath’s birth.
The top three prize-winning poems are published below.
1st Prize When it feels hot, that rage against me
by Rebecca Goss
2nd Prize A Sudden Mother (Staying on the postnatal ward during Covid-19)
by Mari Ellis Dunning
3rd Prize Pineapple (Objects in a portrait I)
by Angela Cleland
Commended:
Raspberry Picking at High Force Colin Bancroft
Departures Sharon Black
Grandpa Hallelujah Annie Hayter
Artefacts Niamh Prior
The Edge of the Pier Laura Stanley
Welcome to Donetsk Anastasia Taylor-Lind
Shortlisted:
When I Say I’m a Firewalker
I Mean our Bedroom’s Burning Vasiliki Albedo
Gold Laurie Bolger
Rink Linda France
The Ivy Crown Victoria Gatehouse
Girls Katie Hale
St. Eulalia’s Descent Christina Lloyd
Giorgio de Chirico Paints
The Disquieting Muses Ben Morgan
double / exposure Ella Standage