On Saturday 26th November we announced the winners of the Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry 2024. The overall competition was judged by award-winning poet Katrina Naomi and the new Sonnet Prize was judged separately by Jodie Hollander, who is based in Arizona. You can read more about the judges here and read the full shortlist here but we’d like to tell you more about the competition winners this year.
First Prize | ‘American Eclipse Sonnet’ by Miruna Fulgeanu
First prize was awarded to Miruna Fulgeanu for her poem ‘American Eclipse Sonnet’ which you can read here.
Katrina said “‘American Eclipse Sonnet’ stood out for me very early on. I admired the poet’s taut language, fine imagery and their confidence in choosing to write a 15-line poem and state ‘this is a sonnet’. There’s a bravery in this, someone prepared to take risks, which is important in writing. The poem has the feel of a sonnet, it holds itself like a sonnet but with a little expansion. The quiet of sleep being compared to ‘entering a blackbird eye’ is wonderful. This poem is way more than ‘OKAY’. I’m delighted to choose ‘American Eclipse Sonner’ as the winning poem in the Patricia Eschen Poetry Competition. It’s a poem that offers more on every reading.”
Miruna Fulgeanu is a Romanian-born poet and translator based in London. Her work has appeared in Poetry London, The Yale Review, perverse, The Rialto, Berlin Lit and Basket among others. She is the winner of the 2023 Oxford Poetry Prize, and a member of the Southbank Centre New Poets Collective 2024-25.
Second Prize | ‘The Whales’ by Julio Trujillo
Second prize was awarded to Julio Trujillo for his poem ‘The Whales’ which you can read here.
Katrina said ” I read many, many poems in response to the sea, The Whales, which I’ve awarded second prize, gave me surprising new perspectives on the ocean. Here’s a poem where waves choose whether or not to make decisions, and where sound is all important; we learn that whales are ‘titanic baritones’. I loved the energy, sonic exuberance and momentum of ‘The Whales’. This is a poem which kept calling to me in a way I couldn’t ignore. “
Julio Trujillo was born in Mexico City in 1969. He has been a publisher for the last 30 years, in charge of literary magazines, cultural supplements and the publication of many books. He has written ten books of poetry and one of chronicles of life in Mexico City. All his books are in Spanish but he’s preparing an edition of selected poems translated to English. He has also begun to write directly in English, with not too catastrophic results! He moved to Cornwall three years ago, where he lives with his wife Lucy and his newborn son, Max.
Third Prize | ‘Aged twenty-nine she buys her first running shoes’ by Abigail Ottley
Abigail Ottley was awarded third prize for her poem which you can read here.
Katrina comments, “This poem has a strong narrative and restless arc, which perfectly fits a prose poem. The poet takes us on several journeys, journeys of learning and of metaphor. The sense of place is evocative, the sense of moving on powerful. I found myself running alongside, willing the narrator on.”
Abigail Ottley writes poetry and short fiction. Over ten years, her work has featured in more than two hundred and fifty magazines and journals, most recently Twisted Ink and the Cornish edition of Inkfish. It will also appear in the inaugural issue of Aspier magazine. This year, Abigail placed second in the Plaza Prose Poem Competition and won the Wildfire 150 Flash Award for the second year running. Twice commended in The Page is Printed and What We Inherit From Water, as well as commended in the Welshpool Poetry Competition, she is both a Pushcart and Best of the Net Nominee and a member of Cornwall’s all-female Mor Poet Collective. Her debut collection will be published by Yaffle’s Nest in May, 2025. Abigail lives in Penzance.
Sonnet Prize | ‘After the biopsy’ by Kyle Potvin
The Sonnet Prize was awarded to to Kyle Potvin for her poem ‘After the biopsy’ which you can read here.
The Sonnet Prize judge, Jodie Hollander, said, “What impressed me most about this winning sonnet was the seemingly effortless movement of a compelling narrative within the structure of the sonnet form. The rhymes were natural and unforced, and served to both heighten and lighten the emotional impact of the subject matter. Accessible and compelling within a beautiful musical structure, this poem thrust its reader into a powerfully immediate emotional experience. A true gem!”
Kyle Potvin’s debut full-length poetry collection is Loosen (Hobblebush Books, 2021). Her chapbook, Sound Travels on Water, won the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award. Kyle’s poems have appeared in publications including Bellevue Literary Review, Tar River Poetry, Ecotone, Verse Daily and The New York Times. She is a peer reviewer for Whale Road Review. Kyle lives in the USA.