Winners of Seán Dunne Poetry Award revealed at Tramore's Japanese Gardens
The winner of the Sean Dunne Poetry competition Giada Gelli is pictured chatting with judge Thomas McCarthy.
Sunday, June 30, saw the announcement, presentation and reading of winning poems in the inaugural Seán Dunne Poetry Award, initiated by the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens, Tramore.
Janet Carey, Business Development and Marketing Manager, welcomed everyone to the gardens and thanked all those who had come to Tramore to take part in events throughout the Seán Dunne Literary Weekend. These included the launch of Derek Flynn's latest book, a writers' gathering and workshops.
Janet also passed on special recognition to Derbhile Graham and Ger Duffy for co-ordinating and overseeing the 'Gathering of Writers' and hosting an insightful interview with Waterford playwright Jim Nolan.
Agnes Aylward, Chairperson of the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens, welcomed the prize winners, who had travelled from around the country, and thanked all those who had entered the competition, which received in excess of 1,100 poems.
Agnes went on to thank renowned writer and competition judge Thomas McCarthy for giving so generously of his time to read through all the poems and emerge with the final winners.
Thomas commented: “I was so impressed by the sheer quality of the submissions to this competition. The sustained superior quality of the poetry was the most unusual I've experienced in over 40 years of judging poetry competitions.
"This had something to do with respect for the competition itself and for the seriousness of the achievements of Seán Dunne; as well a high-quality awareness of Lafcadio Hearn.
"It is very unusual for a judge at the end of a huge competition to still have nearly 90 poems that are potential winners, such was the quality. It was difficult, really difficult, to say farewell to earlier poems in order to produce an ultimate long list of 75.
"Narrowing down that 75 to the best 15 from which the ultimate winners and commended poems would emerge, took many days and hours of re-reading. But the ultimate winners constantly pushed themselves forward, declaring their aesthetic and moral power in the way the best poems always do."
First Prize this year was Giada Gelli for her poem 'Seeds are not Numbers'. Second Prize went to Ann Leahy for 'Lady Luck'. Third prize went to Virginia Keane, for her poem 'Memories for their Mother'.
Thomas said of this year's winning poems: "The depth and beauty of Virginia Keane's 'Memories for their Mother', the formal brilliance of Ann Leahy's 'Lady Luck' and the astonishing grace and high moral power of prize-winner Giada Gelli's 'Seeds are not Numbers' are events within the reading of poems that a judge can never forget. These three poems, and all Commended poems, are a reminder of the high moral power of the greatest poetry, of how poems can embody beauty even if the theme is personally tragic or politically profound.
"Each of these poems is a new event within language. To have had such poetic encounters in Tramore was truly a blessing.”
Each category was interluded by a selection of traditional music by local musician Aine McCarthy Kent. The winners received their prize money and the first prize winner Giada Gelli also received a very unique glass trophy crafted by Sean Egan, which showed the etched image of Sean Dunne by artist Ciaran Brennan (courtesy of Waterford Gallery of Art).
Following the presentation to the poetry award winners, the gardens made a special presentation to the designer of the gardens Martin Curran to celebrate 10 years since the turning of the sod in the gardens.
