We are delighted to announce the results of the Hay Writers Circle Poetry Competition 2025.

This every popular competition received a good number of entries from both inside and outside Hay Writers’ Circle and we very much welcome all external interest in our writing competitions.

We must firstly take a moment to thank our amazing 2025 Poetry Judge, Gareth Writer-Davies who single-handedly read all the poems and whittled them down to our ultimate set of three prize winning poems.

Gareth wrote,

First of all, many thanks to all those who entered: it was a pleasure to read all the entries, which were judged anonymously and read many times.

Competitions are always great opportunities to test out both new and perhaps re-edited  work. I always emphasise the usefulness of running one’s eyes several times over material, stepping away for a while and then giving one final polish before submitting.

The winning poems stood out for their undercurrents of meaning that brought nuance to the words, and showed special skills. However, judging is always a careful balance of objectivity and subjectivity, and these three poems spoke to me beyond mere technical facility.

Nature, climate change and politics were subjects that kept coming up, which was perhaps to be expected. To those who did not place this time, “I say take a chance, surprise the judge by taking a risk!“

Thank you Gareth.

Hay Writers’ Circle Poetry Competition 2025 – Winners!

First Prize – Old Mortality by David Shields

Second Prize –  Collector Sahib’s Distractions by Pushkar Mankar

Third Prize – Ines by Corinne Harris

The Winner

David Shields works at Brecon Library, where he runs poetry and reading groups and a monthly series of talks and readings.

He has an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam University, and has contributed poems, essays and reviews to numerous publications.

He has been commended in the Frogmore Papers Poetry Competition, and is a multiple winner of the Spectator writing competition.

He is the editor of A Good Shift: a Seventieth Birthday Festschrift for Christopher Meredith, and has published two collections of light verse, with a third due shortly.

The Winning Poem

Judge’s comments :

This tightly controlled villanelle stood out not only because this was one of the few poems to take on the challenge of classical form, but also because the form is not heavily worn like a winter overcoat, but capaciously, like a light jacket.

The subject is classic and perhaps Tennysonian, but expressed with freshness; glass blowing, maths and music are striking analogies as “we sail towards the great unknown” and “age ties flesh to a mast of bone” A deserving winner.

–

Old Mortality by David Shields

–

We sail towards the great unknown

Where life’s an algebraic phrase.

Age ties flesh to a mast of bone.

–

Through thin rods of breath a world is blown,

Milky, marbled with flaw and craze.

We sail towards the great unknown.

–

Or shall we, like the autumn sun, disown

The morning’s heritage of fret and haze,

Age tie flesh to a mast of bone?

–

The middle music strains its thrum and drone,

Counterpointing lamentation, praise,

As on we sail towards the great unknown.

–

Voices fading by the semitone –

Still the echo, still the memory stays.

Age ties flesh to a mast of bone.

–

Gaunt elegy, anathema of stone

Are all against the fall of flesh we raise.

We sail towards the great unknown.

Age ties flesh to a mast of bone.

–

We will be sharing the other placed poems, their judge’s comments and author bio’s later in the week.

In the mean time, huge congratulations to our winner, David, all our placed poets and to everyone who entered our competition. Well done all!

To keep up to date with all HWC news why not subscribe with your email address in the box below.