Winners of the Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition 2022 have been announced
Poetry Ireland and Trócaire are delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 poetry competition which this year had the theme ‘A Better Tomorrow’.
The winners and runners-up are across two categories: Adult Published and Adult Unpublished.
The winner of the Adult Published category is Lani O’Hanlon (Waterford) and the runner-up is Lorraine Carey (Kerry).
The Adult Unpublished category winner is Sighle Meehan (Galway), with runners-up, Rory Duffy (Westmeath), Emma Tobin (Kildare) and Marguerite Doyle (Dublin).
Jane O’Hanlon from Poetry Ireland said, “I would like to express sincere thanks to everyone who supported the Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition this year. The winning poems speak eloquently to urgent contemporary issues and yet manage to express hope in and for a ‘better tomorrow’.”
The annual poetry competition raises awareness about current global citizenship, justice, ecological and equality issues. This year’s theme explored how we can build a better tomorrow, all contributing as part of a global community.
Joanne McGarry, Trócaire’s Campaigns and Volunteer Manager, said: “With entries from over 29 counties across the island of Ireland this year, and from as far afield as Canada, Australia, Nigeria and the U.S., we’d like to thank everyone who entered, the standard was superb. These wonderful poems highlight social justice and in turn increase awareness and understanding of the world we live in.”
Poetry Ireland and Trócaire look forward to celebrating the winners of the competition with an in-person event, the first to take place since before the Covid pandemic, on Culture Night, Friday 23 September, in the Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre, located in the Cregan Library on DCU’s St. Patrick’s Campus.
Poetry Ireland and Trócaire would like to congratulate all the winners, and thank everyone who entered.
Their thanks too to the judges of this year’s competition:
Catherine Ann Cullen (Poetry Ireland Poet in Residence), Aidan Clifford, retired former director of the Curriculum Development Unit, and Joanne McGarry (Campaigns and Volunteer Manager at Trócaire).
WINNERS
ADULT PUBLISHED CATEGORY
WINNER: ‘When I Visit Dalal’ by Lani O’Hanlon
RUNNER-UP: ‘Days Like These’ by Lorraine Carey
ADULT UNPUBLISHED CATEGORY
WINNER: ‘A Red Coat’ by Sighle Meehan
RUNNERS-UP:
‘Half Life’ by Rory Duffy
‘Bright’ by Emma Tobin
‘Into the Light’ by Marguerite Doyle
