Sharon Larkin's poetry news, views, reviews and translations
Competition Successes
A. Competition results and ‘honourable mentions’
First Prize in Dreich ‘Black Box’ competition (judged by Jack Caradoc), March 2022. My winning poem ‘Flight Recorder’ was published in the anthology entitled ‘Black Box’ published by Dreich the same month, alongside the commended and shortlisted poems.
First Prize in Silhouette Press competition (judged by Adam Steiner), with publication of the poem Rain Circle in theCircles issue of Here Comes Everyone magazine, April 2014 Here Comes Everyone Circles Edition
PoemCutting Strings runner-up in the Mothers Milk Books competition 2013 (judge, Angela Topping) and inclusion in the anthologyParenting (ed Teika Bellamy), September 2014 Mothers Milk Books Parenting Anthology
Pamphlet Interned at the Food Factory highly commended in Indigo Dreams Pamphlet Competition, December 2017 (and subsequently accepted for publication; published January 2019)
Adjudicators, Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling
Poem Looking for a Spark highly commended in theHappenstance Competition No.16 (Dreaming), results for which were announced November 2017. Adjudicator J.O. Morgan, commenting on the poem said it “drew on a sense of foreboding and the fact that the dreamer’s subconscious is aware of a situation the waking person has been reluctant to admit to.” Happenstance Competition No 16
Shortlisted (among the five finalists) in the Cinnamon Press Debut Poetry Collection Competition 2016, adjudicated by Jan Fortune and Ian Gregson. Jan Fortune: “The quality of these finalists was so high that the decision was almost impossible. We finally wrestled five very fine submissions down to two …” “The shortlist was outstanding and the other excellent finalists – Sharon Larkin, Mick Evans & Vivienne Tregenza will be featured in an anthology.”
The following 10 of my poems were included in the Cinnamon Press anthology (published in October 2017): View from the benthos, Under observation, Damsel dancing, Shaggy ink caps, Aquarium, Firewords, Bowerbird,
What passes between, Departure 1st April, Expanding universe.
Long-listed in Cinnamon Press Pamphlet Competition, May 2017
Medium-listed in the 2013 Cinnamon Press Debut Poetry Collection Prize Competition, Cinnamon Press Debut Poetry Collection Prize 2014 adjudicated by Helen Ivory and Martin Figura. Three of my poems from the 2012 Competition: Fishing, Shrink and Nightshade, were included in the Mayday 2013 competition prizewinners’ anthology (rather than the poems medium-listed from my 2013 entry): Cinnamon Press Mayday Anthology (ed Jan Fortune), published October 2014
Long-listed in Cinnamon Press Debut Poetry Collection Competition,November 2012 (three of my poems being included in the prizewinners’ anthology for 2013 published in 2014)
Poem First Class Anomaly one of the prize-winning poems in Gloucestershire Writers’ Network competition 2006; published in winners’ anthology and read the poem at the Cheltenham Literature Festival that October.
Coming up with the Words 