After painstaking consideration, our head judge Jordan Hamel has selected the winners of the New Writers Poetry Competition 2024. We’d like to thank Jordan for the time and care he’s taken during the judging process (and we urge you to check out his amazing debut poetry collection, Everyone is Everyone Except You).
Also, check out the amazing creative writing charity, First Story (to whom we’ve donated £1 from each entry). A massive thank you to everyone who had the courage to submit their poems to our competition.
Okay, let’s unveil the winners of the New Writers Poetry Competition 2024 (click on the titles to read the poems).
Head Judge Jordan Hamel’s Initial Comments
I just wanted to start by saying what an absolute privilege it is to judge this prize. As a previous winner, I know how significant this prize and the associated prize money can be. I also know how much work goes into running this competition and how committed New Writers UK are to supporting and uplifting writers. Therefore, I do not take my responsibility lightly.
There was no shortage of excellent poetry in contention this year and congratulations to everyone who submitted their work, you truly made my job difficult. Like with any judging of poetry or art in general, there is an element of undeniable subjectivity involved here. I have my own tastes, biases and inclinations, some of which I’m aware of and many, I’m sure, that are unconscious. I’ve done my best to honour my initial instincts and celebrate the work which I have found myself returning to again and again for various reasons.
The winners and honourable mentions are all poems that left an impression on me, poems that stuck in my brain and sparked fascination, awe and curiosity. Thank you to David and New Writers UK for trusting me with this task, I hope I have done it justice.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you all for sharing your wonderful words.
(Website: jordanhamel.co.nz | Instagram: @jordan.hamel | X/Twitter: @jordanhamel_)
Winners
First Prize (£1,000): Surveillance from a High-Functioning Homo Proteus At Eagle Square, Circa Redacted by Njoku Nonso
Njoku Nonso is a Nigerian Igbo-born poet. Much of his works explore the concept of self as a unit of language, identity, grief, familyhood, dreamscapes, and otherness. A recipient of the 2022 Unserious Collective Fellowship, he won the Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest, the Emeka Anuforo Prize for Best Literary Artiste of the Year from The Muse Journal of the University of Nigeria, and the NgEducators International Model United Nations Conference Poetry Competition for Outstanding Indigenous Artists.
He has been a finalist for the Open Drawer Poetry Contest, the Lumiere Review Inaugural Writing Contest, and the Stubborn Writers Contest. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Poet Lore, Boston Review, Arkansas International, Chestnut Review, Momento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry, and elsewhere. You could catch him on X/Twitter: @NN_Emmanuels.
Head judge’s comments: Wow! This poem hit me like a runaway cement truck. It’s not easy to live up to a title like that, but this poem pulls it off and then some. ‘Surveillance…’ is ambitious in its scope and influence. It balances elegance and filth of human experience with ease, ‘White silk bed sheet and pillowcases stained of lantern oil and cum’. This poem reanimates and reignites various histories, putting them in conversation and conflict with each other to light a path forward toward oblivion. It asks a lot of readers, metaphorically and literally, ‘What other ruin resides in the occupation of time?’ I jumped up and down and screamed ‘yes!’ with every line upon first reading and this poem’s power has only grown every time I have returned. It will grab you, shake you and refuse to let you go. I’m honoured to award this poem first place.
Second Prize (£300): Down-Island by Natalie Perman
Natalie Perman is a writer and editor based in Cambridge. A two-time Foyle Young Poet, her work appears in The London Magazine, The Oxonian Review, The White Review and bath magg. An alumna of the Genesis Emerging Writers’ Programme, she is currently working on her debut collection while researching Kafka, childishness and play.
(X/Twitter: @kafkaeatsbabka)
Head judge’s comments: Truly devastating. ‘Down-Island’ is a masterclass in world building, dropping you right into a family tragedy you can’t look away from, then proceeding to fill in the blank spaces orbiting the heart of the poem, ‘At the pier, yellow-rubbered fishermen chased after scuttling lobster, held belly-up like infants in the air.’ Memory interacts with the physical and metaphysical in such vivid and unexpected ways here, the effects of which ripple throughout the stanzas, culminating in a jaw-dropping climax. I couldn’t stop rereading it.
Third Prize (£200): The Rotten Clementine by Junxin Tang
Junxin Tang is a high school student in Indiana, but he calls Nanning home. He is an alum of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. His works have been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and the National High School Poetry Contest. During his free time, he likes to watch movies, collect vinyl records, or play electric guitar.
Head judge’s comments: I’m a sucker for a poem that sets up a reader expectation only to completely depart from it or subvert it. ‘The Rotten Clementine’ does this incredibly well. What starts as an extended metaphor and meditation on longing, ‘[t]he sour is distant yearning…’ transforms into so much more as the poem progresses, letting the reader in on intimacies like shared secrets. The poem allows the reader to reflect on their own desire while luxuriating in the lush imagery and metaphor ‘Time pestled the pleasant hours away as brief as the queen of the night.’ There is so much to savour here.
Honourable Mentions
Here are the poems/poets selected by Jordan that made it into the top 12 of the competition (in alphabetical order by title).
And Then Finally There’s Your Grandmother by Maria Glymph
Maria Glymph is a versatile writer on a lifelong creative journey. After a successful business career, she transitioned to a literary path, founded Modern Odyssey Books, and produced her debut poetry collection, Barn Quilt. In early 2024, Maria began publishing the In Search of… puzzle book series, designed to make timeless literature both accessible and engaging for contemporary audiences. She is currently working on a novella, expanding her poetry repertoire, and curating two anthologies. Keep up with her at www.mariaglymph.com.
Dinosaur Payback by Hilary McDaniel
Raised in Indiana and the UK, Hilary began her career as a dancer/aerialist. Her poems have appeared in Abridged, A Fine Line, Magma and other magazines. Poems from The Hoosier Sonnets for James Dean also placed first in the Poetry London 2024 contest and second in the 2024 Kent and Sussex Poetry Society contest. She lives in New Mexico.
Website: www.hilarymcdaniel-douglas.com | Instagram: @hilaryinharmony | Facebook: Hilary McDaniels Douglas
gene protest by John G
John Gallas is an Aotearoa/NZ poet with 36 collections published, mostly Carcanet www.carcanet.co.uk. He is the Saxonship Project Poet (saxonship.org), a Fellow of the English Association, a St Magnus Festival Orkney Poet, a librettist, a translator and a biker. His new collection, Billy ‘Nibs’ Buckshot: The Complete Works (198 tankas) is due out from Carcanet in October 2024. For more JG information, visit www.johngallaspoetry.co.uk.
Hoosier Heart of Your Heart, 1977 by Hilary McDaniel
(See above for bio)
Knopper gall, ZX Spectrum by Nathan Koblintz
Nathan Koblintz writes poems surrounded by family and small animals in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Some may be read on The Emigre (the-emigre.com).
Sunday by Jowonder
Jowonder, lives in Stoke Newington, London UK. Her recent illustrated poetry book: ‘Surrealist Poems About Clocks,’ is published by Sulfur Surrealist Jungle, Cairo, Egypt. (25th August 2024). It invites you into a world, where clocks tick with a sinister rhythm and reality. Jo can be found performing her poems in arts venues in London, and internationally, with an underground surrealist group called, L’age D’or event. To learn more about her up-and-coming illustrated novel, ‘To Tock or Not To Tick,’ or her visual art and poetry, she can be found on Instagram: jowonder_woodward, or you can visit her website: Jowonder.com.
the reason I cant do my job application is i miss you by Adrienne Wilkinson
Adrienne Wilkinson is a writer living in Norwich. Her poems can be found in various magazines. She has written two pamphlets: repeating mouths (Broken Sleep Books, 2021) and lover / priory (Broken Sleep Books, 2025).
Website: www.adriennewilkinson.co.uk | Instagram: @ghoa.stt
Welsh / Not Welsh by Kapu Lewis
Kapu Lewis is a Welsh writer and poet with autism, and is deeply interested in using storytelling to explore mental health, neurodiversity and human consciousness. Kapu started her career as a journalist and now consults for TV and film. She is studying for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent.
Kapu’s work has been published by Epoque Press, The Berlin Literary Review, Handwritten & Co, The Mechanics Institute Review, Erro Press and The Menteur.
She can be followed @kapulewis on Instagram, Threads, TikTok and Facebook or via her website: kapulewis.com.
What if time is not a continuum by Sophie Mills
Since growing up across the valley from the wild Brontë moors, Sophie has been a lawyer, diplomat and architectural designer. She now nestles among the soft folds of the Suffolk countryside and is studying for an MA Creative Writing (Poetry) at UEA.
Longlist
Here are the poems and poets that were very close to making the list of honourable mentions.
A Sunset by Jiamei Li
after she’d gone by Judith Shaw
Christmas Carol by Marilyn Nunney
Concept Creator by Robyn Bannister
Curlew by Tom McLaughlin
End of Life Care, For Beginners by Katrina Moinet
Errata by Katrina Moinet
Fragmentation by Hannah Pullar
Ginger by Junxin Tang
if you bet the whole house do you care too much or not enough by Danny Carlo Pandolfi
In Fear of Being Seen by Charlotte Cloud
Ink by Anna Whitehouse
instruction by Delillah Dennett
Jellyfish by Ellen Embleton
Kill the Wabbits by Paris Rosemont
Mum friends by Mel Skinner
my therapist tells me to picture my perfect parents under hypnosis by Laura Theis
object permenance by Bonnie Hogan
old friend by Julia D’Amato
Parallelogram by Hannah Linden
Simple by Kai Gilbert
Smokers Outside the Hospital by Sheridan Smith
Something and Nothing by Joanne Walsh
Sweet Iscariot by S. M. Lincoln
The Ants and The Cricket by R. F. David
The Colour of It by Kapu Lewis
The crack right in the middle by Elisa Mishto
The Rapture of Hell’s Kitchen, New York City by Danielle Mund
The Shriek by Panos
The Trap Door by Hope Odai Hepperlin
Thimble by Anthony Powers
Thirteen ways of looking at a pay check by Helen Mallett
to remind you of how much you love me by Nabiha Ali
We are Estuary by Kapu Lewis
What else is love but a sudden seeing by Elena Rousseau
Who scattered suns like seeds by Elena Rousseau
Why It’s Better People Don’t Talk On The Tube by Maxine Sinclair
You feel it all by Rachael Hill
A note to the other entrants
If you entered our poetry competition and didn’t make it to the longlist, the honourable mentions or the winners’ podium, please don’t be downhearted. The margins are often wafer thin when it comes to such a subjective process and the standard was high, so there is every chance your poems could find a home in a different competition or a literary journal. Please do not view this as a rejection of your work or your talent.
It’s always worth re-reading your poem (especially if you haven’t done so for a while) to see if there are things you might change. If you love it as it stands and decide there is nothing you want to change, that’s great. If you are happy with your poem, send it to another poetry competition or perhaps to a literary journal (Chill Subs is a great resource to find journals that are open to submissions).
Most importantly, you are a poet, so please continue to write poems. Thank you and best wishes.