Author wins Telegraph's lockdown poetry contest with ode to nature and friendship

Julia Forster learned of the competition through her father
Julia Forster learned of the competition through her father

When Julia Forster received a bundle of newspaper clippings from her father last month, she thought they would be destined for the recycling bin not long after reading them.

But her attention was soon grabbed by one snippet from The Daily Telegraph calling on would-be Keatses and Wordsworths to enter a lockdown-themed poetry competition.

Now, the 41-year-old has been crowned the winner after she submitted "Buying Vegetables for Lisa, A Ceramic Artist, During Lockdown" - her verses inspired by how the pandemic had shaped the natural world.

Ms Forster, a published author, said she never expected to win, claiming she was "shocked" by the outcome.

She said: "My dad lives quite a way away in the Midlands and he sent me a bunch of clippings in November and one of them was the competition call-out.

"Nine times out of 10, I read something he sends me and then recycle it - and he knows that - but sometimes I do actually follow his suggestions.

"In this instance I did that and it turns out it was a really good idea."

Learning of her win, Ms Forster, whose novel titled What a Way to Go was published by Atlantic books in 2016, quickly turned to her father.

"I did email him and say don't tell anyone but this is coming out and thank you so much for the suggestion," she said. "His dad, my grandfather, wrote six books and one of them was about how to win competitions. So he was a professional competition-entry-person and my dad just said 'your grandfather would have been so proud'."

The hunt to find the best poem of under 40 lines, on the theme of "lockdown", was launched on Nov 13.

Entries were judged on imagination, originality and flair by Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph's Poetry Critic, and Lucy Denyer, Comment Editor.

Mr Saunders said: "If you really want to know someone, ask them to write you a poem. Over the last week, I've read hundreds of entries for The Telegraph's lockdown poetry competition.

"Taken together, they offered a remarkable window into the lives and thoughts of people around the country. I'm tempted to bundle up the lot and send them to Downing Street."

Ms Forster, who lives with her husband and two school-aged children in Wales, had written the poem over the summer and autumn.

"I never write in one go, I tend to edit and take it to my poetry workshop to read and listen to feedback," she said. "I really value other people's perspective on the work."

A self-proclaimed environmentalist, she had been inspired by how lockdown had affected the natural world.

"I had never smelt the sweet coconut of gorse hedge before lockdown and it was the first time that I made the connection."

She added that it was also influenced by friendship. "What lockdown taught me and what I would like to take away from that experience but also perhaps the experience of reading the poem is that it's important to check in with our neighbour and that that should continue beyond this year.

"Looking ahead I hope some of our change and shifts in our value around friendship and the natural world will stay with us."

But ultimately, she said the poem was up to the individual to interpret.