Firstly, thank you for asking me to share a few words on my experience of the Community Arts Partnership’s “Poetry in Motion” Project and the Seamus Heaney Awards for New Writing.
I would say I have had a long relationship with this project, having had my work included in a couple of the previous anthologies, as well as being the “go-to” point of contact for Ballycastle Writers and thereby ensuring our members were aware of and able to attend some of the Masterclasses delivered over the years.
Seamus Heaney, whose name, and memory live on through this project, feels like one of our own. A northern voice. The familiar language of his poetry resonates with me, and I find my own writing reflecting that.
Having encouraged the Group to enter these, and other, competitions, and as I had a poem that fit the brief, I entered, primarily in the hope of sharing my work, as I’m sure is true of anyone that enters. So, to be long listed was very much a surprise, but a pleasant one.
I do think this project is particularly important as it not only it gives us as readers an idea of what people are writing, here and now, the varied use of form, the diverse and sometimes difficult subjects addressed, but it also encourages us as writers to put ourselves and our work out there. I am incredibly happy to have been a part of it.
Kerry Newcombe
