HENRY NORMAL’S OFFICIAL INTRODUCTION
Please welcome tonights poet…
The 2019 winner of the coveted Ted Hughes Award
isn’t him
The winner of this year’s National Poetry Competition
is somebody completely different
Tonight’s poet is not the winner of any award named after any dead poet
nor the winner of any competition judged by other appointed (or self appointed) poets or publishers, festivals or groups/societies
In 2016 he wasn’t elected fellow of an elite club sanctioned by the establishment
nor the winner of a book award sponsored by a coffee chain
In 2017 he didn’t win some obscure prize you’ve never heard of
nor come first, second or third in a poetry competition that cost £30 per poem to enter and makes the competition administrators a fortune every year
He has never won any ‘Sunday Paper Writer of the Year’
nor a medal for poetry given by some people in a small welsh town
He has not been awarded honours of any description by a monarch
of any description
and has not been authorised to put three letters after his name
for basically doing the job he’s paid to do
In 2018 he wasn’t named ‘Professor of Poetry’ at a prestigious university.
2019 same
2020 don’t hold your breath
To be honest with you I don’t know why he bothered turning up
Ladies and gentlemen
with sincere apologies
Henry Normal (CSE French Grade 3) ... See MoreSee Less
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I corrected Angela
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