Second Mercedes Webb-Pullman Poetry Award Winners Announced

The Webb-Pullman Family take great pleasure in announcing the honours for the second Mercedes Webb-Pullman Poetry Award, on the topic of RESISTANCE.

The award was blind-judged by two poets: Fiona Bolger of Dublin, Ireland, and Piet Nieuwland of Whangarei, New Zealand.

The winners, their country, and the title of their poem, are as follows:

Winner:

Ceridwyn Parr – Cambridge, New Zealand

The Last Fig in Gaza

Runner-up:

Maryam Sarwar – Auckland, New Zealand

To breathe against injustice

Other finalists in alphabetical order

Jackson – New Zealand

ever

Jane Graham George

Meteorology – Raumati South, New Zealand

Lyndsey Knight

this is where we face ourselves – Auckland, New Zealand

From the judges

As usual, Piet and I both agreed on all of these and had lovely chats about the wonderful poems and the way in which resistance was interpreted throughout by all the entrants.

We were impressed with the energy and vitality of the pieces.

Videos of the finalists for the 2024 and 2025 Awards will soon be posted on the Mercedes Webb-Pullman Poetry Award website.

Details of the Third Mercedes Webb-Pullman Poetry Award will be advised in February 2026.

© Scoop Media