Mslexia, the magazine for women who write | www.mslexia.co.uk
Competition winners 2008
SIBYL RUTH
I got the phonecall from Mslexia on a grey rainy morning when I was inbetween pieces of freelance work, and tidying the kitchen.
I'd just finished emptying an extremely smelly waste bin. Hearing I'd won the competition made life seem a lot more fragrant!
There's also a sense of unreality. Writing is such a solitary business and - although it's satisfying - making poems can seem like a thankless and frustrating activity too. So it's quite strange when one finds a poem has succeeded in reaching out to someone.
I've been writing for around twenty years on and off. There have been fruitful periods and fallow ones. About eighteen months back I finished secure employment in an arts organisation, in order to have more time to write. It's lovely to have some confirmation that this decision was the right one.
Having recently watched the Eurovision Song Contest with my 10 year old daughter, I'm very aware that competitions can have their bizarre aspects.
I think it's important that there are spaces where women can speak - and listen to one another - without interruption. So it's a particular pleasure to have my work recognised in this way by Mslexia. Having recently watched the Eurovision Song Contest with my 10 year old daughter, I'm very aware that competitions can have their bizarre aspects. Perhaps Carol Ann Duffy should decide the next winner of that competition too?
Mean Time came out when I was starting to get seriously into poetry. It was - and is - an astonishing collection. I am sure that I'll continue to come up with lots of half-baked poems. But I'll hope that I have the good fortune to write a few more successful ones too…
Read Sibyl Ruth's winning poem: A Song of Jean
VALERIE LAWS
I've been a Mslexia subscriber since the very start:
[My poem] aims to give a voice to the subject, foetuses, and that voice will be heard by an enlightened and eminent readership.
nine years of sound, supportive advice and information, during which I've moved from a just-published poet to a fully professional writer and performer, poet and playwright with five books and many commissions to my name. I was surprised and thrilled to hear of my competition success; it's a boost to my self-esteem and a validation of the new direction my poetry is moving in – along with my pathology residency – so is very valuable and welcome, especially as the judge is Carol Ann Duffy, a poet I greatly admire.
It will be wonderful to see the poem in the magazine: it aims to give a voice to the subject, foetuses, and that voice will be heard by an enlightened and eminent readership.
Read Valerie Law's winning poem: A Litter of Moons
PATRICIA ACE
When I heard the news that I’d won third prize I couldn’t take it in.
Gobsmacked, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, thunderstuck (such lovely words)…I think Omigod! was my first reaction, followed by a bit of high-pitched babbling and then, finally, a stunned silence.
… each time I thought about it I would catch myself smiling, like you do when you remember good sex the next day.
Luckily my eldest daughter was on study leave for A-levels so I had someone at home to share the news with. I’d been sworn to secrecy on the phone which seemed a cruel twist of fate. For once in my writing life I felt I had something to shout from the rooftops…but I had to remain tight-lipped for a whole month! It was quite exciting carrying this secret around as I went about my business after the phone call; each time I thought about it I would catch myself smiling, like you do when you remember good sex the next day.
I’ve been submitting to New Writing in Mslexia since 2002, only once reaching the shortlist, and this is the third time I’ve entered the Poetry Competition. I have to admit, I was beginning to think that maybe Mslexia wasn’t for me, so the phone call came as a complete surprise. I am over the moon that Ruby Turning Thirteen has been picked because the Competition is very prestigious and the magazine is highly visible – all my women writer friends read it. Everyone knows that competitions can be a bit of a lottery but that doesn’t detract at all from being selected out of all the entries; there are so many excellent women poets out there and no-one can deny that having your work endorsed in this way gets your name known a bit more and raises the old profile.
To have been selected by a leading poet such as Carol Ann Duffy, whose work I have always admired for its wit, wordplay, strong formal qualities and exploration of the female experience, feels like a real validation.
My wonderful daughter, Ruby, who turned thirteen in January, has been very patient and supportive while I’ve been studying down in Glasgow so I’m particularly pleased that a poem which celebrates her in such a personal way has been chosen. I’ll keep you posted on how she feels about it! Both of my daughters have featured strongly in my poems and stories over the years – they are always an inspiration to me – and I think Ruby Turning Thirteen is very characteristic of my work in general.
Read Patricia Ace's winning poem: Ruby Turning Thirteen
