Guest post by Olamide Shobowale
What is Poetry?
Poetry strings words together with intensity to express feelings and ideas using a unique style and rhythm to describe a place or tell a story. It sparks the imagination and resonates with our emotions. Poetry has been in existence for almost four thousand years and is still relevant today. It is an integral part of art and culture. Even though poetry is boundless, there are different types.
The Oakwood Literature Festival.
The festival is a not-for-profit annual festival launched in 2018, aimed at promoting books, reading culture, and ‘bringing readers and authors together to celebrate literature’. The festival is based in the Oakwood area in the north of Derby. This year’s festival will be held at the Oakwood Community Centre, Springwood drive, DE21 2SU, on the 23rd of April 2022 and 30th April 2022.
One of the areas where you can participate is through our poetry competition which coincides with the Her majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. With this in mind, one of the titles adopted for this year’s competition is ‘The platinum jubilee: a time to celebrate.’ While the other is ‘Memories of lockdown. Applications can be submitted online with one entry per person. Applicants are invited to choose a title from one of the two above to write about and submit for this competition.
Why Poetry?
Why poetry, you may ask? The power of words cannot be underestimated. Can words make or mar an individual? Yes. Our words can determine how good or bad our day can turn out. Words can completely change the course of one’s life. To this, I say a word, spoken or written, is life. We all have words; we all use words in one way or another. Why not use your words as an expression in the upcoming poetry competition?
What’s in it for you.
What’s in it for me? You may ask.
Prizes:
- A copy of Becky Dean’s poetry collection, Un(in)formed.
- A copy of Charlotte Lunn’s poetry collection, Metamorphosis.
- A free ticket for Charlotte’s poetry workshop on the 23rd of April 2022 at 1pm.
- A £20 National book voucher.
- An Oakwood Literature festival winners’ certificate signed by the committee.
Applicants should note that the entries must be family-friendly, with no profanity, swearing or offensive lines, as the winning poem will be published on the website. Your poem should not be more than 30 lines long, excluding the title. Submitted work must be original, and not have been published elsewhere, including blogs and social media. Applicants must be aged 18 and over.
The judges are published poets Charlotte Lunn and Becky Deans.
The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into
Multiple submissions or any other breach of terms will be disqualified
The deadline for submitting the application is 11:30 pm on the 23rd of March.
What are you waiting for? Pick up your pen and get writing today!
You might be the winner we seek.
Olamide Shobowale is a creative writer, with a forte in prose-fiction. Olamide has spent the last decade developing her prowess as a writer including high-stakes thrillers. She is an MA Creative writing student at the University of Derby. Olamide enjoys travelling and uses the history of places to create memorable characters in her writing. You can fin her at www.instagram.com/lammysblog
