Our esteemed judge, Roy McFarlane, FRSL, Canal Laureate of England and Wales says:

Judging this competition has been a pleasure and a joy to read. Thank you for entrusting your beloved poems, from the personal to the observational, from the magical to the reality of living or having leisure by waters.

We have so many wonderful entries from near in Oxford and far away in other countries. We have had over 500 entries in total, over the three categories, and I loved the whole process of reading them.

Hearing so many shortlisted poets perform in the Spoken Word Tent at the Oxford Canal Fest on Saturday 21st was a joy.

I chose the title The Ways of Water to encourage people to write about canals and any other form of water that they may desire to write about, enabling folks to be free to talk about the joy and the importance of waters.

It has been so difficult to make a choice. Everyone who was shortlisted was a winner in my heart.

Congratulations to the winners and shortlists alike and good luck with your poetry. I look forward to hearing about your future prizes!

Roy McFarlane