Festival writing competition shortlist announced and CANOPY anthology published
By Andrew Stuck
We can reveal which are the shortlist from the 2022 Urban Tree Festival writing competition that attracted more than 100+ entries. These shortlisted poems and stories are published in CANOPY a beautifully illustrated limited edition 24 page chapbook.
Challenged to write about “Healing Trees” in 250 words the authors of the 12 shortlisted poems and stories bedazzled the judges.
The theme of “Healing Trees” was set by our previous winners: Chris Cuninghame for poetry and Sarah Wheeler for prose. They chose the theme as they felt it was pertinent to these challenging times and wanted entrants to reveal “the power of trees to heal themselves and us, to contribute to well-being and to sustain eco-systems.”
The shortlisted authors and their pieces are:
Nancy Charley for their poem Apple Jacks Wassail
Sally Duffin for their poem Medicine Woods
M.L. Grieve for their poem Mama has hair of silver-green leaves
Daniel Harwood for their poem Deadwood?
Gina Headden for their story Annie Stevens’ Tree of Life
Jude Higgins for their story Alder
Rosaleen Lynch for their story The Fish Tank Mangroves
Cheryl Markosky for their story What To Do If A Tree Falls On My House
Jackie Morrison for their poem Waiting for you
Sara Stegen for their poem Trees of Ukraine
Laurence Sullivan for their story Each and Every April
Joanna Wolfarth for their story The Survivor Tree
The judges in this year‘s competition were Anita Roy and Chris Cuninghame (poetry) and Sarah Wheeler and NG Bristow (prose); together they tackled the task of reading all 100+ submissions.
