Robert Burns Poetry Competition Winners Announced

Dunedin (Wednesday 18 January 2012) – Winners of the 2012 Robert Burns Poetry Competition have been announced, and they are ready to celebrate their success at the Dunedin City Library on Wednesday, 25 January – the birthday of the great Scottish bard.

Sandra Jones from Wellington, winner of the Unpublished Poet category, and Lynne Hill from Mosgiel, winner of the Published Poet category, will be awarded their medals and their poems will be read publicly. 2011 Burns Fellow, and competition judge, Fiona Farrell will also be present to talk about her year as Burns Fellow.

The poetry readings are part of a bigger lunchtime event, called ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ hosted by the Dunedin City Library in collaboration with the Dunedin Burns Club, the Scottish Studies programme at the University of Otago and the Otago Daily Times. Run annually, it provides the perfect opportunity for the departing Burns Fellow to connect with the local community and reflect on their year at the University of Otago, before handing over the reigns to the incoming Fellow.

Entries for the competition this year came from as far afield as France, while others were penned all over New Zealand, from the Bay of Islands to Napier and of course, Dunedin. The subject matter, like that of the bard himself, was diverse and included poems about long-lost love, musings over Dunedin, the Homeland, and drunken nights in Glasgow - even poems about bus drivers featured amongst the 32 entries.

“We bring opportunities together, such as the Burns Fellowship and the Robert Burns Poetry competition, to inspire and support creativity in people today. We want a heritage that honours the past and moves with the times. As long as there’s a statue of Robert Burns in the Octagon, poetry will be part of Dunedin”, explains Lynette Hartgill, Marketing Co-ordinator for Dunedin Public Libraries.

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow!

Ground Floor, City Library, Wednesday 25 January, 12.30pm - 1.30pm

FREE

Celebrating Robert Burns' Birthday and the Robert Burns Fellowship. Join Fiona Farrell as she talks about her year as the 2011 Burns Fellow, and hear the winning poems from the 2012 Robert Burns Poetry Competition.

ENDS

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