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Gwen Barry received a runner up prize in the 2019 Primary Junior category with her poem 'Land is Life: He turned on the TV'.
Each year, Trócaire and Poetry Ireland team-up to use the arts to raise awareness about global justice, ecological and equality issues.
Our annual poetry competition is open to people of all ages, as well as both published and unpublished poets.
The winning poems are published in booklet form and presented to the winners at the awards ceremony. Winners and runners up are invited to read at our lunchtime awards ceremony at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.
This year’s theme, ‘Standing Her Ground’, used the extraordinary stories of Angela and Madris, two brave mothers from Honduras and Kenya who featured in Trócaire’s 2020 Lenten Campaign.
These brave women are battling enormous odds, including threats like violence, intimidation and drought, to provide food for their children and to keep them in school.
The winners and runners-up are across six categories: adult published, adult unpublished, primary junior, primary senior, post-primary junior and post-primary senior.
Adult Published Category
Winner: ‘Protest Song’ – Cliona O’Connell
Runners-up:
‘Well Water’ – Christine Broe
‘Arenaria Ciliata’ – Marie Whelton
‘The Kiss and the Betrayal’ – Margaret McCarthy
Adult Unpublished Category
Winner: ‘Declaration Winner’ – Marie Studer
Runners-up:
‘Everything beautiful is cruel’ – Michael Ray
‘Women Sing at the Court of Justice’ – Christine Park
‘Amal’ – Priscilla Cassar
Primary Junior Category
Winner: ‘She’s Standing her Ground’ – Ruairí Heeney
Runners-up:
‘She Stood Tall’ – Eibhlín Milmoe O’Reilly
‘Too much to ask’ – Liam York
Primary Senior Category
Winner: ‘Gaia’s Stand’ – Rosie Penn-Chester
Runners-up:
‘Dear Mrs Sheey Skeffington’ – Iseult McGovern
‘The Girl’ – Veronika Fitzsimons
Post-Primary Junior Category
Winner:
‘Suo Tempore’ – Sineád O’Reilly
Runners-up:
‘Seas do Thalamh’ – Lucy Dillon
‘No More’ – Siobhan Fitzgerald
Post-Primary Senior Category
Winner: ‘Home Comforts’ – Liam Hannigan
Runners-up:
‘The Lighthouse’ – Hannah Nic Eindrí
‘Wolves’ – Rachel Durcan
Congratulations to all this year’s winners and runners-up, and thank you to everyone who entered.
As a physical awards ceremony isn’t possible due to Covid-19 restrictions, we look forward to celebrating the winners of the competition with a streamed video event.
Where: Poetry Ireland’s YouTube channel
When: 6pm on Culture Night (Friday 18 September).
