In our Poetry Competition based around the theme of ‘origins,’ young writers across the world shared stories of their identities and reflected upon the people and places that formed them. The competition also saw WtW members provide a wealth of helpful feedback to their peers. Guest Judge Carla Panciera remarked: “The reviews restored my faith in humanity. Look at all these young writers encouraging one another! The world may be in a better place than I thought.”
Read the winning pieces and peer reviews below, along with commentary from our guest judge!
WINNERS
Winner: Thaathaa by divya.vks (Switzerland)
This is such a beautiful love poem. Every line pays homage to the poet’s grandfather, and, thus, to the poet’s origins. How can a poet not arise from a world of “monsoon soil,” “wild indigo,” “cardamom and cinnamon and cloves”? That the speaker is so aware of this world their papa’s papa inhabits is also the mark of someone who can’t escape the poetry of their own lives. No detail is missed. Every line in both stanzas allows the reader into this experience. We see the grandfather so clearly in his “sandbag shorts” as he’s “hurdling red rocks and plastic bottles” (even consider the juxtaposition of those images! What instinct!). But this poet also gives us glimpses into the grandfather’s inner life: “his chest burning like metal on metal,” his stomach “roaring in his lame body.” The reader feels what he feels, feels what his grandchild feels. However, whatever challenges the grandfather has faced, he is tender with his grandchild, capable of deep love (even creating his own “love language”). What a complex characterization of this man. I really could quote every line of this evocative poem; it is so full of the kinds of surprises that arise when a poet uses language and imagery in ways no one has used them before. That is the job of poetry, and this young person obviously understands that innately. The poem is a testament to a writer who experiences the world on a sensory level and is capable, even at this early part of their writing career, of immersing the reader in the world they envision.
Runner up: 故乡 in retrospection by clair de lune (US)
The voice in this poem is so intimate; I am in that car with this speaker and their māmā. I feel as if I have been let in on something so private and, ultimately, so heartbreaking. I’m paying such close attention to what unfolds in this small space. That’s also part of this poem’s magic: from the backseat of a car, we can travel so far away, into the past, into the future. This is how to use something concrete (the car ride) and turn it into a poem that expands into something so complex and universal. I love both the vivid imagery: “the evening blur,” the mandarins the mother peels, “the ribcage of a city,” and the speaker’s thoughts. This is an immigrant story, but it is also a story of a child learning a difficult truth about a parent who admits, “i can’t call this place home.” The child thinks: “there is a distinct incongruence in the heart/of here, where here cannot be home.” What understanding on the part of this son/daughter – but then, what to do with that realization? That’s where the heartache arises. The poet artfully creates a scene that acts as the scaffolding for these kinds of conclusions to occur. In workshopping poems, the poet January O’Neill often asks, “What’s at risk here?” This is a poet who would not have to answer that question. The reader feels singled out in being included in the moment captured on this page.
Best Peer Review: The Trees, reviewed by alora nova (US)
This reader manages to be both constructive and encouraging. They take a novice writer who has admitted to having very little experience writing poetry and provide guidance without taking over the poem. Asking the kinds of questions this reviewer asks allows the poet to own their own poem, but, especially in the case of a brand new writer, it gives the poet a concrete task. It’s hard to learn to write poetry, but it’s easy to answer a question or two. The questions are specific as well. This is a really hard skill to acquire as a critic – it’s so much easier to just start listing what to fix, but, of course, that doesn’t preserve ownership or inspire confidence in a writer. I also admired the way this poet could find something authentic to praise and even to do that with good specifics: “[this line] speaks to why you love the trees so much. i also like that it applies both literally (trees produce oxygen) and emotionally (a place to let down your guard and be yourself).” Finally, this reviewer restricts themself to offering one suggestion (you don’t have to rhyme) but even that is offered in a paragraph of encouragement – so palatable. I’m sure this young poet was both inspired to continue writing and sure of what specifically they could fix in this particular work. A sensitive critique from a more experienced poet who possesses a natural instinct to teach and who understands what it means to be a member of a writing community.
FINALISTS
1. White Clover Root by Blank Notebook (Australia)
2. Legacy by HAR4002 (US)
3. another scottish tragedy by marie_antoinette (US)
4. The Name I Would have had Drowned Somewhere in the Atlantic by SheBelievedSheCould (US)
PEER REVIEW FINALISTS
1.“Not a poet,” reviewed by Extrasweet (US)
2. “How to spell my name,” reviewed by joeD (Malaysia)
3. “A Ball and a Pen,” reviewed by aleas (Canada)
HIGHLY COMMENDED
1. the crushed ant on the sidewalk by simay (Turkey)
2. The fish is still swimming round and round by Adela Smith (Czechia)
3. iron curtain and orange walls by Eblinn (Belgium)
4. Dust on a shelf by Paige Hughes (New Zealand)
5. Vignettes Framed in the Windowpane by AllisonXu (US)
6. Counting the Stars by Extrasweet (US)
7. On and Of Hyphens by mfaisal (US)
8. Sunny Singapore by Claire Ang (Singapore)
Thank you to everyone who entered, and congratulations to all the winners!
