Roger Elkin
Roger Elkin is an English poet,[1] born in 1943 in Biddulph, Staffordshire, U K, who has won over 250 prizes and places - 62 firsts - in national and international poetry competitions. He has published 13 collections to date, all of which have been well-received by critics.
Awards and recognition
- The Lake Aske Memorial Award (1982 & 1987)[2]
- The Douglas Gibson Memorial Award (1986)
- The Sylvia Plath Award for Poems about Women (1986)
- The Hugh MacDiarmid Trophy (2003)
The following poems have been awarded 1st Prize in (inter) national open poetry competitions:
- She Paints, Lake Aske Memorial Award 1982
- In His Eighty-Eighth Year, Staple Open 1986
- May Visitations, Douglas Gibson Memorial Award 1986
- The Ribble At Stainforth, Open University 1986
- Cordelia in Exile, Sylvia Plath Award, World Order of Narrative Poems 1987
- Oriental Poppies, Yeats Club Open 1987
- The Fellowship of Hedges, Envoi Poetry Competition 88 1987
- French Fireworks, Wansbeck Writers' Open 1987
- Moorland Stirks, Lake Aske Memorial Award 1987
- Blood Brothers, Tees Valley Writer Open 1989
- Run, run, as fast as you can, Tees Valley Writer Open 1989
- Flower Talk, Tees Valley Writer Open 1990
- Eating Game, Swanage Open 1990
- Inheritance of Coal, Tees Valley Writer Open 1990
- Stonewalling, Tees Valley Writer Open 1990
- Ward 4B (Admissions), The Writers' Rostrum Open 1991
- Red Admirals, The Trewithen Poetry Prize 1998
- Dying, she became islanded, boho Open 2004
- Stick, Ginger, Corduroy..., Scottish International Open 2004
- At Moments of Kill..., Norwich Writers' Circle Open 2005
- Boy Diving, Fakenham Open Poetry 2007
- Feral Pigeons, Salopian Open 2007
- Hunter-Gatherer Dan, Quantum Leap 19th Open 2007
- Ligularia dentata, Segora Open 2007
- Gran's Hens, Fosseway Writers' Open 2008
- There's this memory, Leicester Poetry Society Open 2008
- Blue Hyacinths, Diversity House (Excel for Charity) 2009
- Strange Harmony, Northampton Writers' Group 2009
- His Eightieth, Haddon Library, Cambridge 2009
- Song Of Woman With Child, Hastings International Open 2009
- Rambling Peak District, Cannon Poets Open 2009
- Finding Stones, Segora Open 2009
- Lucky Break, Fosseway Writers' 2010
- Vultures, Theatre Royal Hyde Open 2010
- Shooting Rhino, Southport Writers' Circle Open 2011
- White Phlox, Theatre Royal Hyde Open 2011
- White Phlox, Tenby Arts Open 2011
- Fallow Deer, going home, Partners Poetry/Aspire Magazine Open 2011
- Opening the box, Quantum Leap 28th Open 2012
- Task Work, Sentinel Literary Quarterly June 2012
- Zulu Dancing, Earlyworks Open 2012
- Ferriby Foreshore, Segora Open 2012
- James Bateman's dahlia, Bradford on Avon Open 2012
- Understanding Dung Beetles, Build Africa Open 2012
- Fishy Triptych, May Poetry Open Competition 2013
- Gran's Living-Room Triptych, Southport Writers' Circle Open 2015
- Descendants, Segora Open 2015
- Me, My Mother & Great Crested Newt, Poetrypulse Open 2015
- Of cuts of butchery, Sherborne Literary Society Open 2015
- Pear Blossom, November Open Competition 2015
- Small Fry, NAWG Open 2015
- What historians, Nantwich Words & Music Festival Open 2016
- Songs without Words, Buxton Open 2016
- On a Wood-Pigeon Proposition, NAWG Open 2016
- Rock End, The Waltraud Field Open 2017
- Beached Jellyfish, The Lord Whisky Sanctuary Open 2018
- The Longest Day, Poetry on the Lake Open, Cinema Poem Prize 2018
- Saving face playing drafts, Link Age Southwark Open 2018
- Achieving Seventy, The Waltraud Field Open 2019
- Remembering Vukovar, Confederation of Writers, Scotland Open 2020
61. Terra, terra, Earlyworks Open 2020
62. Seurat’s Little Girl, PoetryKit Ekphrastic Open 2020
Roger Elkin won the Diversity House (Excel for Charity Poetry Competition 2009. In 1987 he was shortlisted for the Bloodaxe New Blood book-length publication list. He became the first recipient of the Howard Sergeant Memorial Award for Services to Poetry in 1987; and was The Writer's Rostrum "Poet of the Year, 1991". He was one of 10 shortlisted poets (out of 4,000 entries) for the 2003 Strokestown International Poetry Competition; and one of 6 shortlisted for the Keele University Poetry Prize (2007).
Literary career
His prize-winning poetry has appeared in journals, literary magazines and periodicals, both nationally and internationally.
He has reviewed for Stand, Outposts and Envoi and his critical articles on Ted Hughes's poetry have appeared in collections of essays edited by Keith Sagar (1995) and Joanny Moulin (1999); and also on the "Earth-Moon, Ted Hughes" and the "Ted Hughes Society" websites. He is an acknowledged critical authority on Ted Hughes's limited edition publication, Recklings (1966).
He was Poetry Tutor at Wedgwood Memorial College, Barlaston.
He was literary advisor to the Leek, Staffordshire Arts Festival, for whom he organised an International Poetry Competition (1982–1992); the co-editor (with J.C.R. Green) of Prospice, the international literary quarterly, from issues 17-25 inclusive; and the sole editor of poetry magazine Envoi 1991-2006, (issues 101-145).
Published collections
- Pricking Out (Aquila, 1988) - ISBN 0-7275-0401-0
- Points of Reference (Headland, 1996) - ISBN 0-903074-80-X
- Home Ground (Headland, 2002) - ISBN 1-902096-72-X
- Rites of Passing (Shoestring, 2002) - ISBN 1-904886-43-4
- Blood Brothers, New and Selected Poems (Headland, 2006) - ISBN 1-902096-96-7
- No Laughing Matter (Cinnamon Press, 2007) - ISBN 978-1-905614-34-9
- Dog's Eye View (Lapwing Press, 2009) - ISBN 978-1-907276-24-8
- Fixing Things (Indigo Dream Publishing, 2010) - ISBN 978-1-907401-27-5
- Marking Time (SPM publications, 2012) - ISBN 978-0-9568101-1-3
- Bird In The Hand (Indigo Dreams, 2012) - ISBN 978-1-907401-87-9
- Chance Meetings (Poetry Space Ltd, 2014) - ISBN 978-1-909404-11-3
- Sheer Poetry (Dempsey & Windle, 2020) - ISBN 978-1-913329-16-7
- The Leading Question (The High Window Press, 2021) -{{ISBN 9798696331614}}
References
- "(article title unclear)". Outposts poetry quarterly, Issues 156-159. p. 94. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- "The Lake Aske Memorial Award (1982 - Google Search". www.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-02.