Summer School 2012
The 8th Tower Poetry Summer School for young poets aged 18-23 will be held in Christ Church, Oxford from 28-31 August 2012. The tutors will be Alan Gillis (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Kevin Young (Emory University, Atlanta, USA).
Poetry Matters
Poetry Matters is an exciting on-line poetry magazine which provides a fresh, dynamic perspective on poetry issues through a mix of news, reviews and comment.
Tower Poetry,
Christ Church,
Oxford, OX1 1DP
Tel: 01865 286591
or contact us >
| Winners 2010: Second prize |
|
KATIE WOODS John Taylor High School, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire Selkie
He found her spread on golden sand With debris washed from days before Upon the grey and slanted shore By tide.
The grey-white shrug curled in her hand Her breathing slow as if in sleep She choked and burbled, tried to speak and cried.
Inside his house she could not stand The man who pinned her to his breast Bound with a ring, denied her rest, She sighed.
The wedding day, for sure, was grand She walked the aisle with bleeding feet And clung to him while in the street No bride.
Each day she tiptoed to the strand As in her belly Orca slept, Half-wave, half-man who’d made her kept and tied.
One night the sea was high inland She swelled and burst with heavy child With black eyes, purple, red, wet, wild; It died.
Her husband sobbed that she was damned He smelt the water on her skin And heard the ocean wailing, thin He’d tried.
He found the skin at her demand She dived into the sea, she left The man crawled home, his heart her theft, To hide.
He found her golden wedding band An afterbirth, a lingering curse From promises of love to worse She lied. |
About Tower Poetry
Tower Poetry exists to encourage and challenge everyone who reads or writes poetry. Funded by a generous bequest to Christ Church, Oxford, by the late Christopher Tower, the aims of Tower Poetry are clear: to stimulate an enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. Creative writing should be a central element in literary education, and learning about writing poetry can help students to think about ways of reading poetry.
Publications
Poems from the 7th Tower Poetry Summer School 2010
Edited by Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott
The Twelve contains 56 poems from the 12 young poets who attended the Summer School.