Prizewinning Poet

Congratulations to English Teacher Mr Garrard, one of this year’s winners of The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition.

The annual competition is one of the most prestigious prizes in the world for previously unpublished single poems and has a first prize of £5,000. The 2019 National Poetry Competition was judged by Kei Miller, Kim Moore and Mark Waldron, with the winners announced at an awards ceremony yesterday.  The English Teacher, who is also our Assistant Universities Officer and Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) Co-ordinator, was commended for his poem, Near / Far Away, with judges commenting on its “arresting first line” and haunting imagery. Read his poem here.

Mr Garrard has written for 3AM, Literary Review and the Independent on Sunday. His poetry has appeared in Magma and as part of the podcast series, ‘Bedtime Stories for the End of the World’. He is also a budding stand up comic, as witnessed at our recent charity comedy night.