Category: Cult Challenge

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Cult of the Spiny Hog – December Challenge: A Stickleback of Your Own

Jude Alexzander
AND THE WINNERS ARE: I’m pleased to say that two of my most favouritified poets won our Challenge and will see their wee Sticklebacks published in the coming months. So major congratulations are due to:

Phil Vernon

and

Patricia M Osborne

And apologies for taking quite so long to share the news..

The December Cult Members-Only Challenge

As the Sticklebacks are going from strength to somewhere even strongerer, I wanted to make sure that we have a few Cult members featured heavily, so December’s Challenge is to fill TWO of those hallowed sets of  pages with your work.
The Challenge: A Stickleback should have four pages of poetry that together give comment on a single idea. In truth this has been bent in every way over the last few years, but here I am looking for a poet with a point to be made and so four poems it shall be. So to be clear:
  1. Write Four poems each of a maximum of 40 lines, that tell me something I don’t know, beautifully. The idea of the Sticklebacks is that they make a point that needs to be made, political, personal, a statement of love – whatever your choice is, is fine.
  2. Email your poems in a single document to entry to: COMPETITION@HEDGEHOGPRESS.CO.UK
  3. Obviously this is only open to members of the Cult of the Spiny Hog
  4. Deadline: 31st December 2022
The Prize: TWO Winners will have their Stickleback Published, this means:
  1. They will receive 100 copies of the printed edition each, which they can sell, give-away, wallpaper with as they see fit
  2. Cult members will obviously receive a printed copy
  3. The eBook PDF edition will become available at some point in the future.
Have fun!      
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Cult of the Spiny Hog: November Challenge – “Old Photograph – Remembering Philomena O’Meara, Country Singer”

 

The November Cult Challenge

“Remembering Philomena O’Meara, Country Singer””

There has always been a deep and perhaps unexpected relationship between Ireland and Country and Weston Music. Some people think it is because of the fiddle, others have long stories of emigrants taking their tunes with them from one side of the Atlantic to the other.

Me? I’ve always put it down to Philomena O’Meara, the first Irish Country Singer.

Now you may not have heard of her, and the photo I use here most probably isn’t her at all, but Philomena lives on that fault line between legend and myth and whilst there are no known recordings of her voice or explosive mandolin playing, there are some that cling to the tales their own grandparents told them of her lilting voice and love of sour mash.

In fact so little is known, this month’s challenge is to imagine and invent a tale about this forgotten singer, in the form of a poem.

The Challenge:

Write a Poem that tells the tale of the latest and the greatest of imaginary country singers, Philomena O’Meara.

The Prize:

    1. The Shortlisted poets will be included in a Stickleback Anthology to be published during 2023

The Rules:

    1. Poets should:
      1. Write a poem that describes an event in the life of Philomena O’Meara, Irish Country Singer
    2. Poems must be received by Midnight on the 31st of November 2022
    3. Entry is restricted to members of the Hedgehog Poetry Cult of the Spiny Hog
    4. Send your poem to: competition@hedgehogpress.co.uk

 

If you aren’t a member of our wonderful Cult and are all kinds of curious, you can find out more HERE

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: October Challenge – “A Christmas Carol”

Another wonderfilled Cult Challenge, with some gorgeous Bristol Blue glass as a prize, was our request for Christmas poems.

AND THE WINNERS ARE

I’m pleased to say that the winning poem, was by

CEINWEN E CARIAD HAYDON

for

“It’s a Wonderful Life, 13th December 1973”

Ceinwen will receive some proper lovely blue glassware, and join the rest of the shortlisted poets in a wee anthology to be published in 2023.

Congratulations to all!

The full shortlist, is:

        1. Iain Campbell
        2. Philippa Hatton-Lepine
        3. Karen Francis
        4. Caroline Gill
        5. Miriam Otto
        6. GP Hyde
        7. Alyson Smith
        8. Victoria Mort
        9. Annie Cowell
        10. Ceinwen E Cariad Haydon

 

Well, I’m pleased to introduce to you, the fourth and final of our year of seasonal, Cult of the Spiny Hog Members-only Challenges, which will have you reaching for your vague memories of goodwill to all  (??) men, and tell us a Winter’s Tale worthy of the name.

I mentioned a while ago, that I wanted to change the challenges a wee bit, and the plan is that this year we will have Four, Seasonal Competitions that will see each of the four winners across the year:

  1. Receive a Beautiful Piece of Bristol Blue Glassware. This is handmade in Bristol and is genuinely stunning.
  2. See their winning entry nominated as one of our entries for the Forward Prize (the first in 2022, the other three in 2023)
  3. Have their poem included in a special Stickleback edition to be published on the Winter Solstice – 21st December 2023, along with All of the Shortlisted Poems

The Challenge:

Write a Poem for Winter.

There are no limits to style, length, form or anything else

The Prize:

    1. The Winner will receive a beautiful Bristol Blue Candle Stick Holder Thing *, and have their poem entered on our behalf for the Forward prize
    2. The Winning and Shortlisted poets will be included in a Stickleback Anthology to be published 21st of December 2023

* As this is written these are made to order, if that isn’t the case an alternative of equal value and general awesomeness will be supplied instead. Hog’s honour.

The Rules:

    1. Poets must write a new poem for Autumn
    2. Poems to be received by Midnight on the 31st of October 2022
    3. Entry is restricted to members of the Hedgehog Poetry Cult of the Spiny Hog
    4. Send your poem to: competition@hedgehogpress.co.uk

 

 

If you aren’t a member of our wonderful Cult and are all kinds of curious, you can find out more HERE

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: September Challenge – “Fancy a Bit of a Chat?”

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

I am pleased and proud to be able to say, that  the winning entry for our rather spiffing Conversational Challenge is:

 

“Splashing Pink : A Poetry Conversation”

by

Annie Cowell & Sam Szanto

So mighty congratulations to Annie and Sam, who will see their wee book published in 2023 and thank you to everybody else that took the time.

You may have heard, but I am genuinely, properly partial to a Poetry Conversation, and as I’m planning what Hedgehog will be publishing in 2023 at the moment, I thought it might be nice to squeeze just-one-more-in for the new year.

Not sure what one is?

Well, where have you been?

In simple terms it is two poets, choosing a topic and exchanging poems in a call-and-response kind of way, until the topic is done and they can settle back for tea and scones, or whatever they prefer.

AT least ONE Poet must be a member of the Cult of the Spiny Hog – i.e. You can partner with somebody who isn’t a member

 

The Challenge:

Find a partner, and between you both create upto TWENTY poems, in the form of a conversation, where each poem is influenced by what came before.

There are no limits to style, length, form or anything else

The Prize:

    1. The winning Conversation will be published by the Hog in 2023

 

The Rules:

    1. Two poets must write a new series of poems in the form of a conversation
    2. Poems to be received by Midnight on the 30th of September 2022
    3. At least one of the participants in the Conversation must be a member of the Cult of the Spiny Hog
    4. Send your poem to: competition@hedgehogpress.co.uk

 

If you aren’t a member of our wonderful Cult and are all kinds of curious, you can find out more HERE

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Cult Challenge ‘A Wee Collection’ – AND THE WINNERS ARE…

 

 

THE WINNERS ARE:

As seems to  be my want, I couldn’t choose a single winner for this wee collection challenge, and so I am pleased and proud and muchly chuffed to congratulate:

KATE YOUNG

for

“Beyond the School Gate”

&

NIGEL KENT

for

“Benchwarmers”

Both collections will be published in 2023,.

Congratulations to both and thank you to everybody who took the time to put a wee collection together

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: August Challenge – “Where are you going?”

And so to the August Challenge, and this time  it is all about freedom.

If you were in the Cult last time, you may remember this wee Polaroid was in your Goody Box, and then I completely forgot to tell you why, but there we are, I never claimed to be good at this.

But the Challenge – imagine that you have been locked-up for a while in a horrible and dirty place, and then wake up to the door unlocked and the promise of freedom beyond.

And this is all about the positive, as I ask you to imagine what comes next and generally – Where Are You Going?

The Challenge:

Write a Poem describing what freedom would mean to you.

There are no limits to style, length, form or anything else

The Prize:

    1. The Shortlisted poets will be included in a Stickleback Anthology

 

The Rules:

    1. Poets must write a new poem for the Challenge
    2. Poems to be received by Midnight on the 31st of August 2022
    3. Entry is restricted to members of the Hedgehog Poetry Cult of the Spiny Hog
    4. Send your poem to: competition@hedgehogpress.co.uk

 

If you aren’t a member of our wonderful Cult and are all kinds of curious, you can find out more HERE

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: July Challenge – “Autumn Nights”

AND THE WINNERS ARE

I’m pleased to say that the winning poem, was by

EILEEN CARNEY HULME

for

“Inlets”

Eileen will receive some proper lovely blue glassware, and join the rest of the shortlisted poets in a wee anthology to be published in 2023.

Congratulations to all!

The full shortlist, is:

        1. Eileen Carney Hulme
        2. Margaret Royall
        3. Mick Yates
        4. Des Childs
        5. Penny Sharman
        6. Colin Dardis
        7. John Richardson
        8. Simon Tindale
        9. Kate Young
        10. Mandy Willis

 

Well, I’m pleased to introduce to you, the third of our year of seasonal, Cult of the Spiny Hog Members-only Challenges, which has the rather spiffy name of ‘Autumn Nights’ and should give you something to share as the days start to get shorter.

I mentioned a while ago, that I wanted to change the challenges a wee bit, and the plan is that this year we will have Four, Seasonal Competitions that will see each of the four winners across the year:

  1. Receive a Beautiful Piece of Bristol Blue Glassware. This is handmade in Bristol and is genuinely stunning.
  2. See their winning entry nominated as one of our entries for the Forward Prize (the first in 2022, the other three in 2023)
  3. Have their poem included in a special Stickleback edition  along with All of the Shortlisted Poems – Date TBC

The Challenge:

Write a Poem for Autumn.

There are no limits to style, length, form or anything else

The Prize:

    1. The Winner will receive a beautiful pair of Bristol Blue Wine Glasses *, and have their poem entered on our behalf for the Forward prize
    2. The Winning and Shortlisted poets will be included in a Stickleback Anthology

* As this is written these are made to order, if that isn’t the case an alternative of equal value and general awesomeness will be supplied instead. Hog’s honour.

The Rules:

    1. Poets must write a new poem for Autumn
    2. Poems to be received by Midnight on the 31st of July 2022
    3. Entry is restricted to members of the Hedgehog Poetry Cult of the Spiny Hog
    4. Send your poem to: competition@hedgehogpress.co.uk

 

 

If you aren’t a member of our wonderful Cult and are all kinds of curious, you can find out more HERE

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: Challenge – “Face in a Crowd” – AND THE WINNER IS…

I’m pleased to be able to announce the results from one of our Cult Challenges from earlier in the year, that saw us taking a stunning photograph as a prompt as we imagined the life of the lady who we see standing alone in the crowd.

We have a wee anthology that will soon be published, and I’m happy to say that it will include work from:

          1. Eileen Carney Hulme
          2. Merril Smith
          3. Mick Yates
          4. Patricia M Osborne
          5. Margaret Royall
          6. Philippa Hatton-Lepine
          7. Patricia M Osborne
          8. Eileen Carney Hulme

Congratulations to all that had their work selected, as ever it was much appreciated.

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: Challenge – “Children of the Revolution” – AND THE WINNER IS…

Ah, another day and another fantastic wee anthology to be announced and published. This time we had some brilliant poems on the theme of a constant life of revolution, and I am pleased to announce the wee anthology will contain stellar work from:

        1. Margaret Royall
        2. John Gosnell
        3. Phil Santus
        4. Caroline Gill
        5. Kate Young
        6. Simon Tindale
        7. Emma Lord
        8. Kathryn Ratzko
        9. Nigel Kent
        10. Julie Stevens
        11. Patricia M Osborne
        12. Gavin Bourke
        13. Mick Yates

Congratulations to all that had their work selected, as ever it was much appreciated.

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Cult of the Spiny Hog: Challenge – “Summer Breeze” – AND THE WINNER IS…

Well, I’m pleased to be able to announce the winner of our ‘Summer Breeze’ Cult Challenge, who will find themselves grappling with the joys of ink well and pen, with this rather beautiful piece of glassware from the nifty Bristol Blue.

Along with the winner, the shortlist will feature in a wee anthology that will soon be out and about.

But with no further ado, congratulations to…

JULIE STEVENS

for her poem

‘SUN SNAKE’

Congratulations to Julie who will join each of the shortlisted poets in a wee anthology in the soonerest of futures…

          1. Julie Stevens
          2. John Gosnell
          3. Doryn Herbst
          4. Victoria Mort
          5. Fiona Halliday
          6. Elizabeth Barton
          7. Margaret Royall
          8. Suzie Millar
          9. Gaynor Kane