Inspired to Write Poetry and Prose Competition

Poetry and Prose competition inspired by the Jupiter Artland collection, launched with our very first Poet in Residence, Marjorie Lotfi Gill.

The Inspired to Write competition launched in summer 2015 and was coordinated by our very first Poet in Residence, Marjorie Lotfi Gill. Marjorie Lotfi Gill specialises in ekphrastic writing, writing inspired by artwork, and worked at Jupiter Artland for over a year writing here weekly, running writing groups and workshops for secondary schools.

All submissions to the competition were inspired by the artwork at Jupiter Artland and we had over 150 entries from as far as Bolivia and Egypt. We were delighted with the response and the quality of the writing and it took our judges, Marjorie Lotfi Gill and Jupiter Artland Founder and Director Nicky Wilson, hours of reading to shortlist the submissions and finally choose a winner. The event itself was held in the Jupiter Artland Ballroom of Bonnington House with an illuminated Nathan Coley’s ‘You Imagine What You Desire’ providing a backdrop to the reader’s lectern. It was fantastic to hear the poems/prose being read out loud by their writers, bringing to life the words and capturing the emotion and atmosphere of the artworks. The words shed new light on our permanent collection and we will remember them as we walk around the Artland.

The winning entries are as follows:

Poetry

Porcelain Hearts by Maria A. Arana, inspired by Broken by Jessica Harrison – LISTEN HERE
Look at Me by Rosemary Bassett, inspired by Firmament by Antony Gormley – LISTEN HERE
Purple for Goodbyes by Jonathan Bay, inspired by Separation in the Evening by Sara Barker – LISTEN HERE
Lovebomb by Helen Boden, inspired by Lovebomb by Marc Quinn – LISTEN HERE
A Crofting Childhood by Janis Clark, inspired by Weeping Girls by Laura Ford – LISTEN HERE
Five Weeping Lassies by Chik Duncan, inspired by Weeping Girls by Laura Ford – LISTEN HERE
Earth-Moon-Earth by Aiko Greig, inspired by Earth-Moon-Earth by Katie Paterson – LISTEN HERE
You Imagine What You Desire by Alex Hackett, inspired by You Imagine What You Desire by Nathan Coley – LISTEN HERE
Stone House by Steve Harvey, inspired by Stone House Bonnington by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE
East Coast Woman by Anne Hay, inspired by Over Here by Shane Waltener – LISTEN HERE
The Coppice Room by Vicki Husband, inspired by The Coppice Room by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE
Set in Stone by Rebecca Johnstone, inspired by Weeping Girls by Laura Ford – LISTEN HERE
The Coppiced Woods by Mary Kendall, inspired by Stone Coppice by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE
On by Iain Matheson, inspired by Only Connect by Ian Hamilton Finlay – LISTEN HERE
In Translation by Mary McCarthy, inspired by Untitled (Plastic Cups) by Tara Donovan – LISTEN HERE
Rivers by Alison Moir, inspired by Rivers by Tania Kovats – LISTEN HERE
Winter Shadow by Kriss Nichol, inspired by Proposal 47, Winter Shadow by Peter Liversidge – LISTEN HERE
An Ear Trumpet for the Earth by B.D. Owens, inspired by Suck by Anish Kapoor – LISTEN HERE
The Alchemy of Waste by Lauren Pope, inspired by A Body of Parts by Silvy Weatherall – LISTEN HERE
The Lonely River by Trish Saunders, inspired by Rivers by Tania Kovats – LISTEN HERE
Matrix by Finola Scott, inspired by Firmament by Antony Gormley – LISTEN HERE
Stone House by Alice Tarbuck, inspired by Stone House Bonnington by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE
Four Boys by Jean Taylor, inspired by Hare Hill by Henry Castle – LISTEN HERE
Prophets by Rafael Torrubia, inspired by Stone Coppice by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE
What the Rain Forgot by James Walton, inspired by Clay Tree Wall by Andy Goldsworthy – LISTEN HERE

Prose

Leaving the Brownies by Yvonne Dalziel, inspired by Weeping Girls by Laura Ford – LISTEN HERE
Nifty’s First Case by Jennifer Andersen, inspired by the Artland – LISTEN HERE
An Enchanted Evening by Karyn Millar, inspired by Broken by Jessica Harrison – LISTEN HERE