• The Snapshot Press Tanka Collection Competition 2005

The Snapshot Press
Tanka Collection
Competition
2005

• 1st Prize
• Commended
• Entries
• 2007 Competition

1st Prize

George Swede
First Light, First Shadows

George Swede receives the first prize of £200/US $300.

First Light, First Shadows will be published in Summer 2006.

Further details will be available shortly.

Our clothes
where they fell
on the floor
gather first light
first shadows

Burial of a friend—
in spite of myself
I marvel at
the yellow butterfly
against the blue sky

Twenty-five years
and still together
despite everything—
I let the purple thistle
stay in the garden

With the promotion
a corner office—
two window reflections
now vie for
my attention

I drive through rain
to an old friend
with cancer—
the windshield wiper
like a pendulum clock

On the north-facing ground
that never sees the sun
still clumps of snow and ice—
things unresolved in me
make their presence known

Commended

In alphabetical order:

Marjorie Buettner (USA)
Cherie Hunter Day (USA)
Frank Dullaghan (England)
Beverley George (Australia)
LeRoy Gorman (Canada)
Thelma Mariano (Canada)
David Rice (USA)
Linda Jeannette Ward (USA)

Entries

14 entries were received from entrants in the USA, Canada, Australia and England.

While it may be somewhat premature to expect many poets to be in a position to produce book-length, cohesive collections of English-language tanka, this contest is intended to nurture the genre and encourage poets to explore its huge potential as a vital element of contemporary English poetry.

2007 Competition

The format of this contest will be revised before the next deadline, which is likely to be in late 2007/early 2008. Details will be available shortly.