Let’s Hear it Then poetry competition winners revealed

This week, we invited the finalists of our ‘Let’s Hear it Then’ poetry competition to see their work displayed for the first time. 

The competition, ran in collaboration with Leeds 2023: Year of Culture, invited staff and students  to submit or perform original poetry, song or rap lyrics.

From over 100 unique and thought-provoking entries, 12 finalists were chosen to attend the Leeds 2023 Hub as we revealed the winners. You can read the three winning entries below:

Staff Winner: Ancestry by Katie Stones

A deep breath through the apprehension.
Do I want to know what my bones are made of…
Remnants of slavers, fascists, murderers, colonisers?

It is my duty to be better. To impregnate my proteins with hope.
To leave some kindness in these genes, for someone else to find,
In the branches of the tree that come long after me.

Student Winner: Whiskey in a Wine Glass by Shauna Thompson

Whiskey in a wine glass
Nobody looks beneath her red lipstick
And now it’s smudged on, on the surface
A piece of her imprinted on the rim
Fill the glass with your fantasies, and take a sip.

Whiskey In a wine glass
Tipsy, but it’s risky, because he might drink ‘til her last breath
And ooh it burns her throat
So she waters it down with some ice and coke
And she prefers wine but oh he don’t
But he likes the glass, so
She’ll still drink it from one of those

Put her body in a cage
Throw the key away
Make her feel small
So she thinks she has to stay

Whiskey in a wine glass
Just thinking, and sinking, into her chair
Doesn’t really matter if, she’s, even there
The red burns through her lips
Sitting pretty as she realises all of this
Fill the glass with your fantasies, and take a sip.

Special Judges Award: The Rotten Pickle by Saffron Butler

I licked a rotten pickle,
just the other day
But it tasted disgusting
So I threw it away.
But when I checked the bin.
To my shock and surprise
It was crying in the corner with sadness in its eyes.
What else was I supposed to do
than make it my new friend.
I couldn’t leave it lying there,
What a dark and stinky end!

It just wanted its family,
The pickles in the jar.
He asked me to put him back,
The fridge wasn’t too far.
But when I got closer,
The pickle screamed in fear,
My dad had gobbled the whole big jar;
The vinegar was clear!
All its friends and family, down my dad’s throat fell.
But now the stubborn pickle,
wanted to go as well!!!!
I told him it was dangerous,
And he could end up dead.
But when my dad went for a yawn
PICKLE LEAPED AT HIS HEAD.
I hope that now he’s happy,
Swimming all around.
Because he’s lost forever
Never to be found.

I wish I could just call him
To check he is okay.

But he was a rotten pickle
So I’m glad he went away.