Judging this year's NZPS Open Competition was a more demanding task than I'd expected it to be. Firstly, it was impossible not to be moved by the kinds of life experiences that have found their way into poems, so many of which were heartfelt reflections that immediately engage sympathy, empathy, compassion. To keep continually in mind the demands of art, the "making it new" of real poetry, itself demanded a rigour that made the enterprise a real challenge for this judge. At the end of it all, I am happy with my selections, though the commended list could easily have been enlarged, and there was often a fine line (sometimes literally) between inclusion and exemption.

The cardinal sins of indifferent poetry are undoubtedly the same which crop up in any competition, anywhere. The use of lazy or clichéd language and imagery; lack of coherency in structure and in meaning; transparent attempts at mystification; and the too-frequent ballasting of last lines with significant meaning. Quite a number of poems began with real promise but were collapsed by pre-emptive conclusions.

The three winners, and the commended entries, speak for themselves. There is a range of verse types here, a variety of themes, but a quality that speaks of the health of poetry in New Zealand.

Winners

1) Mother & Child John O'Connor, Christchurch
2) How worlds collapse Tom Dowling, Ireland
3) The Starlings Tim Upperton, Palmerston North

Highly Commended

Anzac Day 2004, Kerry Popplewell, Wellington
Cabbage Tree, Marion Jones, Dunedin
dead wood, Suzanne Chapman, Australia
Feathers, Jeffrey Harpeng, Australia
Soundings, Nola Borrell, Lower Hutt

Commended

And with the invitations sent, Janine Sowerby, Christchurch
A woman of forty seeks the shore, Eleonore Schönmaier, The Netherlands
Bloody Cupid, David Ingram, North Shore City
Central Homes of my Grounding, Natalie Browning, Hamilton
Percussion Lover, Peter Wyton, England
The Servant, Robin Fry, Lower Hutt
The Snow-Sayer, Keith Westwater, Lower Hutt
task list for a day off from work, Sue Emms, Tauranga
West of Windwhistle, Ernest J. Berry, Picton
Wiggle, Angela King, Auckland


 

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