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Aspiring poets from �������������Ī and surrounding area are invited to submit their work for the second annual Benjamin Zephaniah Poetry Competition with the prize giving, and readings of winning submissions, taking place at �������������Ī University on Thursday, 1 November.

The competition – which in its inaugural year saw the winning poets perform their entries to a packed house at St Edmund’s College in the company of Zephaniah himself – is now open to a greater range of local writers who need to submit their work by Saturday 17, October 2012. ��

Last year’s competition was open to �������������Ī University students only. It was won by Isabella Shaw, a student of English Literature at Clare College whose lyrical Variations on the Western Wind, a poem inspired by a song from the early 16^th century, captivated the judges and held the audience spellbound when she read it at the prize giving. ����

This year, there are four different categories for submissions from people living or studying in �������������Ī and surrounding area: local university student, local college student, local school student and local resident. ��There are no limits to the age of entrants.

In tune with the spirit of the competition, which aims to find new voices, only work that has not been previously published can be entered.

“We’ve widened the criteria for entrants because we believe the competition is the ideal platform to bring out diverse voices and celebrate the richness of the entire �������������Ī community,” said Mohammad Razai of the �������������Ī Political Forum, organisers of the competition.

“Last year’s event was a bit of an experiment because we had no idea what response we would have. We were thrilled with the number of entries and the judges were hugely impressed by the standard of the submissions.”

The aim of the competition is to encourage new work that propels social change and the project is being facilitated by the �������������Ī’s Equality & Diversity team. ��Entrants are asked to submit one poem each with a length of between 15 and 80 lines. Competition winners will be invited to read their submissions at the prize-giving event.

The prize giving will be held at Emmanuel College at 5.30pm on Thursday, 1 November as part of the Vibrant Visions event held by the Equality and Diversity team to celebrate Black History Month 2012. ����The event is open to the public and the organisers are keen to encourage as many people as possible to attend. For free tickets go to

Full details of the Benjamin Zephaniah Poetry Competition and how to enter can be found at .

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