Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2024: Whiteway

The land is dreaming again,
white as a thin shelled egg,
cloud shoulder, quickthorn, stone axe.

Ancient woman with cargo of salt.
Not bleached or alabaster, not
ivory or ashen, pearly, pure or ice.

But white as mycelium strands
digging at limestone
to make a road on the ridge.

The land says listen and merge,
like ammonite held in oolite.
How rock wants a wet body to make fossil.

Such are the things we’ve forgotten,
adrift from the otherworld
of mole, cave, worm.

Whiteway’s memories of kin’d —
a sinuous line that pulls us back, dwells
in our unions and uncertainties.

To be with the season,
dream the road, says the land.
Walk us back to ourselves.

Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2024 Winners

Poetry Archive Now! has sought out contemporary poet’s voices since 2020 and now represents a vivid and far-reaching exploration of the ...

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JLM Morton

Winner of the Laurie Lee and Geoffrey Dearmer prizes, JLM Morton’s work has been published in Poetry Review, Rialto, Magma and elsewhere. Her first collection, Red Handed, is out with Broken Sleep (2024). She’s currently poet in residence at Sladebank Woods, a semi-urban woodland sandwiched between a housing estate and the ‘National Landscape’ of the Cotswold Hills.

A special thank you to our WordView 2024 poets.

Hear from some our winners this year on what the Archive and winning has meant to them:

From William Wyld:

'As a neuro-diverse poet who has struggled to engage with books, reading aloud made literature accessible to me. The Poetry Archive is such a valuable resource and to be included as a winner is a wonderful surprise, giving me validation as an artist, the motivation to keep writing and performing, and the confidence to submit my work widely. I recorded at the last minute, walking by a river through the undergrowth as the light was fading, so my poem could be heard with the movement of the landscape. It was an experiment, but good things happen when we take risks.'

From Sarah Morris:

'I felt that I would enter the PAN competition as my last submission of the year as it is a fun one to do. I enjoy reading out my poems and doing videos and bonus with PAN as they are put up online. I like that these poems are accessible by everyone.
When I got the ' you are a winner' email – I felt super impressed that I had been included for a top 20 selection – I felt validated that my work has been recognised and it has inspired me to keep on writing and re drafting next year.'

From Nuri Rosegg:

'A British friend told me about PAN. I’m grateful to her and to PAN that I could enter this fabulous poetry competition. This year (just like last year when I entered for the first time) I felt grateful, excited and a little bit nervous due to the video-making challenge. However, it was great fun to read out loud my own piece of work. It’s another dimension being able to present my poem to the audience “live” from around the world than just having them read my text. Being one of the winners this year makes me so happy, grateful and proud. Thanks, PAN!'

From Julie-Ann Rowell:

"It is an honour to have my reading of my poem ‘Newsworthy’ chosen for the Poetry Archive Now! WordView 2024 project, representing poets writing in English in 2024. This particular year has been deeply challenging, and I wanted to write about George Orwell for whom the exchange of information and how this can be distorted was of prime significance. His world view is as relevant today as it ever was. Poetry has an important task to do in representing what is happening in the world and the Poetry Archive does a fantastic job of storing recordings of poets at work for future generations. Hearing poets’ voices brings their words into a more personal and lasting frame, and the Archive is free for anyone to listen in and find their favourite poet or discover a new one. I am so proud to be a part of it."

From Joe Williams:

"I was very pleased to hear my poem ‘Carol Prepares Her Third Perm of the Day’ was to be included in the Poetry Archive’s Now! Wordview 2024 collection. These collections provide a great snapshot of the year in poetry, featuring a diverse range of poets, and I’m particularly interested in the way they include grass roots writers as well as some better known names. My poem is taken from a pamphlet I’m currently working on, and it’s fantastic to have the support of the Poetry Archive as I look ahead to approaching potential publishers."

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