Thank you so much to everyone who entered.
It was incredibly hard to choose but, after much soul-searching, I came up with this list.
The first three poets have given permission for me to share their poems lower down the page.
The highly commended poets and all other entrants are invited to share their work on Suffolk Writers Group on Facebook, together with a picture of their historical character. I really hope some of you do so. The poems deserve a wider audience. (Please note: if you’re intending to submit your work to a magazine or another competition, you may be disqualified if you share it on social media.)
The Winners
Will Kempe by Fiona Clark – First Place
Raedwald’s Crew by Katie Simpson – Second Place
Charles Darwin by Jon Platten – Third Place
Highly Commended
Robert The Bruce by Sharon Hulm
Salieri by Hemant Doshi
Van Gogh by Carole Ferguson
Rene Descartes by Dayle Olson
Benjamin Franklin by Adrian Frost
Prizes
For the Winner
The Angry Ghost trophy
A £20 book voucher
A poetry book donated by Stillwater Books and homemade jam from Cuppa.
A signed copy of Thirty Angry Ghosts
The opportunity to share the poem at the Cuppa event
A free event ticket
For Second and Third Placed Poets
A Thirty Angry Ghosts Certificate
A £10 book voucher
Homemade jam from Cuppa
A signed copy of Thirty Angry Ghosts
The opportunity to share the poem at the Cuppa event
A free event ticket
For the Highly Commended Poets
A Thirty Angry Ghosts Certificate
Ghost-themed chocolate
The opportunity to share the poem at the Cuppa event
To keep up with Angry Ghost events and activities, join Suffolk Writers Group on Facebook and/or follow maiblackwriter on Instagram and Twitter.
The winning poets, and some of the highly commended poets, will share their work at the Cuppa event following performances from Thirty Angry Ghosts.
The Three Winning Poems
Will Kempe
Who summons me from my eternal rest?
Will Kempe’s the name ; my aged bones are cold;
I spent my life in merry jigs and jests,
But customs alter and my jokes grew old.
Why am I here, if you’ve not conjured me?
Suppose YOU didn’t raise me from the dead-
I’ll wager t’was Will Shakespeare’s devilry-
That OTHER Will: though that’s not what he said-
Listen – he wasn’t always famous. No!
They thronged to theatres chiefly to see ME,
They gaped to watch the great comedian grow
In fame ( and girth! ) and see my Dogberry.
They came to see my Bottom, when all’s done-
My jig with feisty heart and feet like feathers!
The theatre’s all about a bit of fun-
They came for laughter- cheered me in all weathers!
You see, he did me down, that other Will-
I spoke for him, in anger, when they sneered,
Those educated men, who snigger still-
“A country lad, an upstart crow”, they jeered.
But Will got mean – “ No more extempore!
You’ll play my Falstaff, sticking to the script!”
(Best role I’d ever played, I have to say-
That boist’rous pudding-bellied hypocrite! )
In time, it rankled that I wasn’t free-
“Will, stuff your scripting where the sun don’t shine!”
“I know thee not, old man,” at last, says he.
Turns heel on me and all that once was mine.
So, off I went and danced my nine days jig,
From London town to Norwich in the East.
For Shakespeare and his works, gave not a fig.
The roaring crowds, they filled my lusty breast.
Kempe’s Nine Days Wonder was so quickly done,
That faithless Shakespeare never thought of me-
I died at last, from want of food, alone-
In Bread Street. Now THAT was an irony.
By Fiona Clark
William Kempe : potted biography.
Will Kempe (c. 1560 – c.1603).
Will Kempe was an English actor and dancer, well known for playing comic roles in Shakespeare’s plays, such as Peter in “ Romeo and Juliet” , Dogberry in “ Much Ado About Nothing” and Nick Bottom, the Weaver, in “ A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. He may also have played the role of Falstaff. It is notable that Shakespeare wrote no part for Falstaff in his Henry V, after Kempe’s departure from the theatre company.
So successful was Kempe, that he became one of the core of actor-shareholders in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in December 1598, together with Shakespeare and Richard Burbage. However, there was a falling-out between Kempe and the rest of the group, causing Kempe to leave in early 1599. The most likely cause of the quarrel was Kempe’s love of “ ad-libbing” or speaking “ extempore “, whereas Shakespeare preferred his actors to stick to the script!
We have good evidence for Shakespeare’s views on the topic in “ Hamlet”, Act 3, Scene 2, where Hamlet voices a famous complaint about improvisational acting.
After Kempe left the company, he undertook his “ Nine Days Wonder”- in which he morris danced from London to Norwich ( 110 miles), on nine days spread over several weeks during February to March in 1600. Later that year, he published his own lively account of the feat, to defy false reports from other sources.
Sadly, the evidence suggests that Kempe probably died in poverty, in Southwark in 1603.
*******
The reference in my poem to Shakespeare as an “ upstart crow” echoes Robert Greene( 1558- 1592). In his pamphlet “ A Groatsworth of Wit” ( 1592) , Greene almost certainly intended these words to refer to Shakespeare, a non- university educated outsider, and to accuse him of plagiarism : “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers”.
The phrase “ upstart crow” has been immortalised in the title of Ben Elton’s 2016 TV series, starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare.
____________________________________________________
RAEDWALD’S CREW
Maybe at night,
when the tides are right,
I slip your boat’s lines,
haul those long oars
and steal away.
A soundless boat
and a formless rower
with a warrior’s strength.
Just to feel the pull
of the oars through the water
once more,
to hear the lap of the waves
on the hull
and remember,
the roar
as we hauled together,
the swift slip of the sleekness
of the maiden we gave life,
in the hope and prayer
that she in turn
would keep ours safe.
My roar
rumbles across the river
like thunder,
as my heart rages,
for my crewmates-
lost.
But I return your little boat,
before dawn creeps
across the water.
A ship is a ship
and she deserves safe harbour.
So here she lies,
in the shadow of our king’s
desecration.
By Katie Simpson
_____________________________________________________
Charles Darwin
Disquisition Upon the Survival of the Fittest Natural Scientists, Relative to the General Population, in an Era of Climate Catastrophe (I Will Survive)
At first I was a doctor, so unsatisfied,
Kept thinking I could never learn with patients by my side.
But then I spent so many nights engrossed in entomology
And I grew strong
And I proposed a new theory.
Pin your ears back,
O human race –
I’ll just walk in and lecture you through this huge beard upon my face:
You should all change your stupid ways,
You should all help humanity,
If you can learn to work together, you’ll evolve successfully.
Go on now, go, to Ecuador,
Observe the finch now –
It does not prosper anymore.
That climate change has got you fried and your Armageddon’s nigh
Your earth will crumble,
Your race will lay down and die.
But no, not I, I will survive.
Unless you humans can evolve, your species will not thrive.
I’ve had all my life to live,
I’ve still got all my brains to give, so I’ll survive,
I will survive. Hey, hey.
Pre-evolution theories had to fall apart
As I laboured to apply my sage researcher’s art.
And I spent oh-so many nights just reading textbooks from the shelf,
I used to sigh
But now I hold my book up high.
And you see me –
Ex-Beagle crew –
I’m not that trainee little parson still in love with zoos.
Because I want to change the world, I studied entomology
And now I’m saving our fine planet for creatures who follow me.
Go on, now, go, give up on war.
Give peace a chance now
So your species may endure.
That climate change has got you fried, and your Armageddon’s nigh,
Your earth will crumble,
Your race will lay down and die.
But no, not I, I will survive, hey, hey.
By Jon Platten
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Thanks again to all the people who entered. I really appreciate the time you dedicated to your entries.
I’m so proud that my book and this competition have sparked so much creativity.
For details of my weekly Suffolk writing group and other local activities, please check back regularly to suffolkwritersgroup.com where you can also find my email address.
Best wishes,
Mai x
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