Green spaces and lockdown inspire poetry winners
Paisley Book Festival crown Morgan and Gemma
One of the most controversial housing development s in Paisley history was the inspiration behind the winning poem of this year’s Janet Coats Memorial Prize.
Part of the Paisley Book Festival, the 2021 accolade was awarded to Paisley poet, Morag Smith.
Her poem Background Paper 3 ( Proposed Housing Developments, Dykebar) looked at developers’ attempts to build 600 homes within the grounds of the Paisley hospital.
Examining the threat to nature and the many species that inhabit the 95- acre site off Grahamston Road, the poem was named the overall winner in the adult category.
The under- 18s award was lifted by Castlehead High School pupil Gemma L i v i n g s t o n e ’ s poem Breathe.
Looking at the benefits of the lockdown on pollution, she says: “Today there are no planes flying by, The cars are not moving
“The people are in lockdown, And I am still standing here breathing”.
The theme for the 2021 book festival was Radical New Futures, and poets were asked to write about green spaces for the competition as a result of their growing role in people’s lives under lockdown.
Keira Brown, co-producer of Paisley Book Festival said: “The standard of submissions was incredibly high and we want to thank everyone who submitted a poem.
“It was not an easy task for our sifting team which included members of Renfrewshire Leisure’s libraries and arts teams.
“We are delighted for our winners Gemma Livingstone and Morag Smith.
“We would also like to thank all the Renfrewshire schools who encouraged their students to write a poem.”
The poetry competition is named after Janet Coats, part of the famous Coats family of Paisley, whose literary aspirations resulted in two volumes of nature- inspired poetry.
Over 130 entries were submitted in the over 18s category and further 27 to the under 18s contest.
The judging panel for the prestigious prize included poet and playwright and Scots Makar, until 2016, Liz Lochhead: poet, writer, and creative practitioner, Nadine Aisha Jassat and the current Tannahill Makar, Brian Whittingham.
The runners up in the under18s category include Emma McCallum, an S2 student at Castlehead High School with her entry Poem 3 and fellow Castlehead student Alisdair Napier with Let That Be Our Green Space.
In the adult competition the runners up were The Gulls’ Lament by Marka and Angus Bhattacharya’s A Trumpeter.
All poems, including those which received a highly commended commendation, can be found on at paisleybookfest. com/ janetcoats-memorial-prize/