Published poet and storyteller Kelly Terwilliger from Oregon in the United States has scooped the first prize in the Open Category of the 2025 Guernsey International Poetry Competition, organised in conjunction with the Guernsey Literary Festival.
Kelly’s poem Ashes was chosen by this year’s competition judge, acclaimed poet Imtiaz Dharker, ahead of poems by Jonathan Edwards from Wales and Jane Lovell from Devon. Kelly, who is also writer-in-residence in public schools in the state of Oregon, has had her work published in a number of journals in the US.
She will be coming to Guernsey for the competition presentation on Friday 2 May at the Guille Alles Library at 5pm, during the Literary Festival, which runs from 25 April to 4 May.
The competition, which is split into three categories, Open, Channel Islands and Young People’s, and is sponsored by Specsavers and supported by Guernsey Arts, attracted no fewer than 2,350 entries from 55 countries, including Italy, Indonesia, Belarus and Zimbabwe.
Ashes by Kelly Terwilliger
The four-year-old threw the stick for the dog, the stick
barely arcing away but the dog didn’t care, any stick was joy
and the tide inched in over the weeds,
filling the places between,
the low bellies of sand and broken shell.
We were waiting for the ashes
in a pot with a cork in the top,
and the wind was right, the ashes would blow
like ribbons, disappearing as all the pieces
came together by coming apart. From up on the rocks,
flags of after-smoke shaken free,
and the dog down on the sand waiting, eager
to chase and return whatever anyone offered.
But it was the USA that took first prizes in both the Open and Young People’s Categories, with Conlan Heiser-Cerrato from Maryland winning the latter with his poem Lost and Found. After three years when the winners came from Guernsey and Sark, the Channel Islands Category was a clean sweep for Jersey, with the first two poems, Old Dog and Snowdrop, coming from Adam Perchard. Sandra Noel, a regular and successful contributor to the competition over the years, took third with Seashore Gatherings.
Open winner Kelly told how she heard the good news: “Well, I heard it in two stages. First there was a voicemail, saying would I please call back–there was good news. I thought, oh, hooray! Maybe I really am going to get a poem on a bus! I’ve always wanted a poem on a bus! Because I’ve always loved seeing poems on public transportation, breaking up the endless advertisements and warnings with words that let me breathe more deeply.
“Sure enough, when I called back, this was true. I was delighted – a dream, realized! I did a little dance inside. And then, to hear I’d actually won first prize? Honestly, I’d forgotten about the prizes! And so, astonishment, verging on disbelief, and more delight! I’ve been glowing with the pleasure of it all.
“The inspiration for the poem was the sending-off of my step-father’s ashes. My mother still lives in the coastal community where I grew up, and we went down to the bay in front of her house to a place called Fossil Point. The fossils aren’t named in the poem, but we were standing on them. That could be another poem.
“I am a poet, professional storyteller, and artist from the Oregon coast, who loves swimming in wild places, makes stellar ginger cake, and recently has taken up taiko drumming.
“Poetry is how I find my way in the world, how I steady myself, enter the confusion, and connect.”
In her judge’s report, Imtiaz Dharker (pictured) said: “Poetry listens to the heartbeat of the world and I was reminded of this with the entries for the Guernsey International Poetry Competition.
“These are poets, young and old, who are listening and bringing their hearts and minds to an ongoing conversation. Reading them, I felt I was hearing voices taking up different strands of the human story, rich with images, wry, wise, full of affection.
“Many of the winning poems look at everyday things – a dog chasing a stick, a pair of serge trousers, tadpole commas, dog biscuits, collected shells, photo-frames – while the significant action is happening elsewhere, where ashes are scattered, memories stored and lives changed.
“I enjoyed the unexpectedness of the treatment and subject matter, even in poems which did not travel all the way to the final list of winners. The real joy for me, not just in judging but in reading poetry at any level, is coming across the line that sings, that stays in the mind and makes me want to come back to read it again and aloud.
“So thank you, Guernsey, for giving me the opportunity to judge this competition. It was a great honour and a joy.”
Main picture: Credit: Ayesha Dharker
