The results of the 2010 Academi Cardiff International Poetry Competition were announced at a celebratory lunch at the renowned St. David’s Hotel & Spa in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday 9 June. The 2010 competition was judged by Zoë Skoulding and Jackie Kay, with Tiffany Atkinson as filter judge. The winners were revealed by Zoë Skoulding and special guest, National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke.    

The First Prize of £5,000 was awarded to Giles Goodland (pictured)  from West London for his poem The Bees. In their adjudication the judges described Giles’ winning poem as “not so much a poem about bees as a poem that does something bee-like, cross-pollinating words to make a landscape that sings in an unexpectedly fertile language”. Giles, who works in Oxford as a lexicographer, has published a number of poetry collections the most recent being Near Myths (Oystercatcher, 2010). Following the official announcement Giles said: “Winning the competition was an amazing experience for me. It is not just the considerable winnings; it gives me a sense of continuity, since I started writing poetry as a university student in Wales”.

Jane Aspinall

Second Prize of £500 was awarded to Jane Aspinall a university senior lecturer in law and management from the Wirral. The judges commented that her poem Tambourine “gracefully explores the spaces in language, the silences of what escapes communication. It’s a poem about not speaking, what can’t be said, and yet it says it”. Apamphlet of Jane’s poetry called American Shadowwill be published by Smith Doorstop Books this June.Marilyn Jenkins from Llantwit Fardre was awarded Third Prize of £250 for her poem Taking Delivery which the judges describedas “a brilliant example of how a poem can work through letting objects do the emoting”.Marilyn, who is a member of Academi, had her first collection of poetry, Close Distances, published by Cinnamon Press in 2007.

The five runners-up in the competition each receiving £50 were: John Leslie Brooke from Worcestershire; Naomi Foyle from Brighton; Atar Hadari from London;Jane Kirwan from London and Hugh McMillan from Dumfries and Galloway.

Peter Finch, Academi Chief Executive, said: “The Cardiff International Poetry Competition fixes the city of Cardiff right in the heart of the poetry world. 2010 was a bumper year in terms of both number of entries and the quality of the poems. The winner, Giles Goodland has proved himself to be a world class poet. Cardiff is a now cultural epicentre. In these guises long may they both continue.”

All of the winning poems and information on the winners can be found on the Academi website: www.academi.org/cipc/