Culture
Limerick Writers Centre announce the winner of the Desmond O Grady International Poetry Competition 2022
Desmond O Grady The winners of the competition were announced by award-winning poet, playwright and essayist Adam Wyeth
Singapore Artist Kendrick Loo honoured in International Poetry Competition in Limerick
By I Love Limerick correspondent Ava O’Donoghue
The winners of the Desmond O Grady International Poetry Competition 2022 have been announced.
The Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition was inaugurated in 2012 by the late Barney Sheehan in honour of Limerick poet Desmond O’Grady.
The Limerick Writer’s Centre revived the competition as part of their April is Poetry Month in Limerick 2019 festival.
The aim of the competition is to promote the work of the late Desmond O’Grady by keeping his name prominent in poetry circles worldwide.
The winners of the competition were announced by award-winning poet, playwright and essayist Adam Wyeth at the Desmond O’Grady Memorial Reading that was held at the People’s Museum of Limerick.
“I was honoured to know Desmond. I remember asking him once what poetry does for him as a person, and he quickly replied that it humanises him. I’ve always loved this answer, and that’s precisely what this year’s winning poem does for me when I read it,” said judge Adam Wyeth about the competition.
In first place were Kendrick Loo, a Singapore based poet and reviewer for his poem “laundry,” a personal and reflective poem on the aftermath of breaking up with a partner.
In second place was Rosemary Geary’s ‘For Your Mother. While poets Joanne McCarthy, Peggy McCarthy, Michael Farry, Eibhlis Carcione, Sarah Murphy, Robert Walton and Mary Melvin Geoghan were highly commended for their poems.
Kendrick studied English and Management at the University of St Andrews and his work includes fourteen poems, EcoTheo and Sundog Lit.
From 2019 to 2021 Kendrick commissioned and edited literary reviews for Singapore United and now works in academic publishing.
“Laundry is a poem that caught my eye and captured my heart immediately. It’s a poem that packs an emotive response without any force. The imagery does much of the talking, transforming the ordinary task of doing the laundry into something extraordinary,”
“The poem appears effortless: direct, lucid, written with a light touch. But these qualities bely a poem of the ruthless economy with rigorous attention to detail and a superb sense of metaphor and symbol. This ability to pin-point grief and heartbreak so deftly and alchemically is what makes this poem second to none.” He continued.
For more stories on The Desmond O’Grady award go HERE
For more information on the International Poetry Competition go HERE