Fenland Poet Laureate Awards (Cllr Sennitt Clough to lead)
Minutes:
Councillor Sennitt Clough gave an update on the Fenland Poet Laureate Awards, including feedback from last year’s awards and asked the committee for ideas and feedback for the upcoming awards
Members made the following comments:
· Councillor Nawaz stated that the format worked well last year and suggested to keep it the same for this year’s awards.
· Councillor Tierney stated he has been to a few awards and thought that last years Fenland Poet Laureate Awards was one of the best he has attended, he agreed with Councillor Nawaz that the dates and organisation with the help from officers should be the same for this year.
· Councillor Sennitt Clough stated that the dates the competition worked on last year were mid-December for entries
· Jamie-Lea Taylor confirmed the entry date was the 4 December 2023 until the 31 January 2024 and then the Awards were held in the middle of March 2024.
· Councillor Sennitt Clough asked the committee if they were happy to agree a date for the beginning of December 2024 until the end of January 2025 for this year’s competition entries to be submitted and for the ceremony to take place around mid-March 2025?
· Councillor Wallwork agreed the dates would work well and should not be affected by any local elections that happen in May.
· Councillor Foice Beard asked are there some Fenland Unsung Hero Awards around the month of March? Councillor Wallwork responded that the Pride in Fenland is being moved back slightly so as not to clash with the elections and the Unsung Heros Award has been moved to January which means the Fenland Poet Laureate Award should fit in nicely mid-March.
Members agreed to the timeline discussed.
Councillor Sennitt Clough asked the committee for feedback on whether enteries should live, work or attend schools in the Fenland area and if agreed how can this be a bold rule?
· Councillor Tierney agreed that entries should live or work within the Fenland area to be able to keep this as a Fenland award.
Members agreed to keep the Fenland Poet Laureate Award Fenland based and to have this stated within the guidelines of the competition.
Councillor Sennitt Clough asked the committee if they were happy to filter the entries as was set out last year and then for herself and Hannah, last year’s winner, to choose a winning selection?
· Councillor Nawaz agreed this was a good idea.
· Councillor Tierney suggested it would be a good idea to have an officer present as an independent observer. Councillor Sennitt Clough responded that Jamie-Lea Taylor does anonymize the entries before the judging takes place and was concerned that an officer may not have the time to observe.
· Councillor Purser suggested if officers time is sparing the Council Chairman could be asked as an independent observer.
· Councillors Tierney, Wallwork and Nawaz all agreed they did not feel, and observer would be necessary but that the idea should be taken on board the situation arise in the future.
Members agreed to filter the entries and Councillor Sennitt Clough and Hannah (last year’s winner) would select the category winners.
Councillor Sennitt Clough asked the committee what their thoughts were around asking the competition entries to write an accompanying statement to go with their work?
· Councillor Cutler agreed there should be a statement to accompanying the poem submitted
· Councillor Wallwork asked if there was a word allowance for the accompanying statement? Councillor Sennitt Clough responded last year it was up to an A4 page.
· Councillor Tierney stated that he was not in favour of the accompanying statement as it detracts from the poem written and feels the judging should be solely on the poem submitted.
· Councillor Wallwork and Councillor Purser agreed with Councillor Tierney that judging should be on the quality of the poem
· Councillor Nawaz disagreed and stated the statement can add a certain context to the poem
· Councillor Foice Beard added if the poem has done its job, then it should not need to have an accompanying statement. Councillor Purser agreed
· Councillor Nawaz stated that he felt with the statement added it can give body to the work submitted
Members agreed that an accompanying statement was not a necessary part of the competition.
Councillor Sennitt Clough asked the committee if they have any idea for promoting the competition?
· Councillor Tierney stated that social media is always the strongest element and suggested publishing some of last year’s winning entries to build interest.
· Councillor Sennitt Clough suggested displaying last years poems in the local libraries to generate interest. Jamie Lea Taylor confirmed this was a suggestion given last year and there is work happening with the Communications Team to put some of last year’s winning entries and the runners up together to be shared on the Council’s website and social media sites
Members noted the suggestions for extra promotion.