On Wednesday 28 November 2007 a packed Celebrity Restaurant at St David’s Hall in Cardiff played host the Grand Final of the 2007 John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry. The build-up to the final comprised heats in Cardiff, Merthyr, Swansea and Wrexham. The scene was set, the finalists chosen, the judges poised and the bar fully stocked. MC Ifor Thomas opened the event by reading one of John Tripp’s own poems and then led an evening full of diverse and original poetry performances from 16 new and familiar faces to the performance scene. Judging were poet Herbert Williams, 2004 John Tripp Award winner Clare Potter, broadcaster Nicola Heywood Thomas and 2006 Dylan Thomas Prize long-listed author Matthew David Scott. The atmosphere was tense as the poets took to the microphone to deliver their greatest performance in the hope of being crowned Wales’s best performance poet. However it was Swansea based poet and playwright Peter Read who took the eye and ear of the four judges and was named the winner of the 2007 John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry. Read was Born in Rhosllanerchrugug, near Wrexham and educated at the University of Bangor. His set which included the three very diverse subjects of his father’s ghost, writing poetry and sex education won him the title and the first prize of £500. On winning Peter Read said: "The sense of euphoria is only just starting. It feels wonderful to have won such a prestigious, national prize. I am also pleased that it bears the name of John Tripp, one of my literary heroes. It was great to see the competitors chatting and supporting each other. I think that contributed to the wonderful atmosphere in the final." The audience also got the chance to have their say as they voted for the winner of the Audience Prize. This was a close run contest with a second vote having to be taken as a tie emerged between Mab Jones and Martin Daws. Mab Jones from St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, clinched the second vote by a whisker and was presented her Audience Prize award by Academi Chief Executive Peter Finch. Martin Daws, a finalist in the Wrexham heat was also chosen as the judge’s runner up in the competition. Peter Read Peter Read who now lives in Swansea was born in Rhosllanerchrugug, near Wrexham and educated at the University of Wales Bangor. Peter is a playwright, poet, writer, performance poet and also a Creative Writing tutor. He has had five plays staged professionally, including Toshack or Me!, which played to sell out audiences at the Swansea Grand Theatre in 2006 and 2007. The commissioned sequel, To Hull And Back, premieres in February 2008. Peter has performed his poetry live at numerous events in Wales, England, Ireland and America. He has also read his poetry on BBC Radio, BBC TV and ITV and has written for BBC Radio Wales and Radio 4. He runs creative writing courses and workshops and has worked in over thirty schools, helping children to write creatively on many topics including Bullying, The Landscapes and Heritage. In 2007, he founded the Young Writers Squad for talented secondary school writers, and supports the Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers. |
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Tuesday, December 4, 2007 |
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