Hampshire Poet 2016 appointed by Hampshire Cultural Trust

Hampshire Cultural Trust has chosen Isabel Rogers as Hampshire Poet 2016 to help them celebrate this coming year. Isabel, from Cheriton, was chosen from a strong set of applicants from all corners of Hampshire for the sought after post.

Isabel will be commissioned to write poetry in celebration of the Trust’s exhibition and project work during 2016. Her poems will be shared widely through print and online publications. Isabel will also act as an advocate for the power of reading and creative writing. 

On hearing the news Isabel said: “I'm thrilled and honoured to be chosen. It's a fantastic opportunity to share my enthusiasm for poetry with people all over the county, and I hope I can help broadcast our local talent to the wider world.”

Isabel’s poetry has been published in Poetry Wales, Under the Radar, Mslexia and the New Welsh Review. She won both the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and the Faber Academy QuickFic Competition last year. Her writing career began by adapting Asterix books for her class and many years later she relocated to the Highlands and wrote her first novel.

To enter the competition, Isabel had to send in two poems from her portfolio plus a short statement including what she will bring and gain from the experience.

Joan McGavin, Hampshire Poet 2014 and judge of the Hampshire Poet 2016, said:

I liked the liveliness of Isabel’s ideas about poetry generally and the Hampshire Poet role in particular. She displays an energetic commitment to the task of exciting people about poetry, both ‘on the ground’ across Hampshire and also online. I’m sure she’ll use this role to encourage others to write and to develop her own writing as the year progresses.

Judge Stephen Boyce, published poet and chair of the Winchester Poetry Festival, said:

In a strong field Isabel stood out for her versatile and accomplished poems, her infectious enthusiasm for exciting others about poetry and her ability to communicate widely. I’m confident she’ll make a real impact as Hampshire Poet, bringing style and a good deal of pleasure to the role.

Below is a short, recent example of Isabel’s poetry. A version of Flying South, about changing seasons, has been set for unaccompanied choir by composer Ian Stephens for performance in 2016.

Flying south

I felt a soft distortion in the sky

an unlocatable thrumming; heard the call

for strength, trust and a true compass,

the locked vector in each head

wearing a groove across the world

like iron to the poles.

Time’s bow-wave rippled and shrank to black

leaving me stretching – heavy and unfeathered –

solid human, anchored in a new season.