We are delighted to announce the ten poems on the theme of STRENGTH which have made it onto this year’s Bangor Poetry Competition shortlist. Each poem will be displayed in our online gallery and the winner will be selected by public vote. Each shortlisted poet will be invited to read at the awards ceremony at Bangor Castle on Sunday 2nd October at 3pm which is part of Aspects Literary Festival, where the winner will be announced. Huge congratulations to everyone who made the shortlist and longlist from hundreds of entries, as always, the standard was exceptional. Please come along and join us at the free event: TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.

Voting for the ten shortlisted poems opens at 5pm on Sunday 25^th September 2022 and closes at 5pm on Friday 30^th September 2022 on The Bangor Literary Journal Website.

1. Richard Lister              Wrapped
2. Shelley Tracey             Things with claws
3. Lynda Hewitt              Parental physics at an inflatable water park
4. Glen Wilson                Independence Square, Kyiv
5. Meg McCleery             How did it ever come to this?
6. Maurice Devitt            Clearing the House
7. Ann-Marie Foster        Slammed
8. Ross Thompson          Field Of Fire
9. Kate Ennals                 An Old Woman on the Deserted Prom at Hardelot Plage
10. Pamela McNutt           Thran

Longlisted Poems

Helen Kay                    Title Sequence: Raging Bull

Gaynor Kane               St. Patrick’s, Ballymacarrett, Belfast

Glen Wilson                Spring, Bondukuy, Burkina Faso

Sven Kretzschmar       The poet speaks to her in silence

Siobhán Mc Laughlin  What the Water Gave Me