Trócaire and Poetry Ireland are delighted to announce the winners of the 2017 Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition. This annual competition is open to published poets, unpublished poets, spoken word poets and students. The theme of this year’s competition was ‘Before the Storm’, and entrants were invited to explore how people prepare for extreme weather events caused by climate change.
Ireland is renowned for its literary and cultural heritage, as well as for its generosity in supporting those in need around the world. Trócaire and Poetry Ireland’s poetry competition brings these two elements together in a creative way, using the arts to raise awareness about the leading global justice issues of our time. This competition is unique, because poets are invited to explore a different global development theme each year.
‘Before the Storm’
This year’s competition theme Before the Storm’ explores how people prepare for extreme weather events caused by climate change.
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America, with approximately one million households living below the poverty line. It is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and was the worst-affected country in the world from 1993 to 2014. During this period of time, at least 65 extreme weather events affected Honduras, including six of the 12 strongest hurricanes of the 20th century. In October 1998, Honduras was hit by Hurricane Mitch, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths, devastation of the country’s infrastructure and drinking water network, and extensive crop losses.
Working with Trócaire, some of the most vulnerable communities in Honduras are taking action to ensure that they can fight back against the effects of climate change… this is called ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’, or DRR.
It means making a plan to prepare for the next extreme weather event, to ensure the least amount of damage possible. DRR is what you do to get ready ‘before the storm’.
The winning poems and poets are:
Adult Published Category
Winner:
‘Before the Storm’ David Butler
Runner Up:
‘Signs’ Lorraine Carey
Runner Up:
‘Hurricane Redux’ Angela Carr
Adult Unpublished Category
Winner:
‘The Hurricane’ Bernie Crawford
Runner Up:
‘Loss Control’ Caroline Bracken
Runner Up:
‘Elegy’ Michael Ray
Primary Junior Category
Winner:
‘Songbird’ Hannah McCorry
School: Abbeyleix South National School
Runner Up:
‘The Three Kings’ Cain O’Connor
School: Abbeyleix South National School
Runner Up:
‘Clouds’ Matthew Brigdale
North Bay Educate Together N.S., Greendale
Primary Senior Category
Winner:
‘The Monster in the Sky’ Catherine Coen
Sooey N.S., Sooey, Co. Sligo
Runner Up:
‘The Lone Sailor’ Keisha-Paige Plant
School: Gaelscoil an Bhradáin Feasa
Runner Up:
‘Foreboding’ Sinéad O’Reilly
School: Mercy N.S., Wexford
Post-Primary Junior Category
Winner:
‘Ag Fanacht ar an Storim’ Muireann Ní Éideáin
School: Coláiste Íosagáin, Co. Baile Átha Cliath
Runner Up:
‘Unravelled Lives’ Alison Ward
Presentation Secondary School, Castleisland, Co. Kerry
Runner Up:
‘At Last We Meet Again’ Cara Wallace
School: Assumption Grammar School, Ballynahinch, Co. Down
Post-Primary Senior Category
Winner:
‘How to Survive a Storm’ Adam Cooper
School: Oaklands Community College, Edenderry, Co.Offaly
Runner Up:
‘Report’ Ciara Fennessy
School: Mount Sackville Secondary School, Chapelizod, Dublin 20
Runner Up:
‘Hurricane’ Jake Kilcoyne Kellegher
School: Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh
For more on the winners see www.trocaire.org.
ENDS
