Hundreds of poets aim for top spot at Wolverhampton Literature Festival
Hundreds of poets from across the country put pen to paper for a Wolverhampton contest.
More than 600 entries from across the UK and further afield were received for the inaugural Wolverhampton Literature Festival poetry competition.
Edinburgh-based poet Rachel Plummer has been revealed as the champion of the contest after she submitted 'Iris, the oldest physicist at CERN'.
Her poem - which won her £400 - was selected as the winning entry by judge and Wolverhampton poet Emma Purshouse, who said: "This poem grew on me each time I read it. It’s magical, mythical, and lyrical. I loved it."
Keen poets were called on to enter the contest, run by Write Out Loud, and pen their creations of up to 40 lines based on theme 'Out of Darkness Cometh Light'.
Wolverhampton poet Ros Woolner was named runner up of the poetry competition with his entry 'Sack of night', winning £150.
An anthology of some of the entries has since been compiled and will include poems from a trio of third-prize winners as well as work from poets in Bilston, Bridgnorth, Coventry and Birmingham.
It will be on sale during Sunday's Winner's Ceremony, set to take place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from 12.30pm.
Almost 100 acts are set to bring an eclectic mix of music, art, theatre and comedy to the city when the second Wolverhampton Literature Festival returns this weekend.
The three-day festival will see events spill into venues across the city including Newhampton Arts Centre, The Slade Rooms, Bantock House and The Grand Theatre.
Workshops, theatrical performances and debates, as well as events for children including storytelling, have been included on the line-up.
Three themes - music and literature, politics and journalism and community voices - are set to run throughout the celebrations, beginning on Friday.
Wolverhampton council's libraries services won £13,250 of funding from the Arts Council's Grants for Arts programme to help grow this year's festival - which is supported by the Express & Star.
The funding boost meant the literature festival is secured for the next four years, with organisers now looking to establish it as a permanent fixture in the city's calendar.
