…in our ‘banned poems’ competition, that is:
Andy Jackson! (entry number 3)
For his very funny and well thought-out comment on banning Andrew Marvell’s ‘To his Coy Mistress.’ Congratulations, Andy! You’ve won an annual subscription to Magma and a copy of the banned AQA anthology will be winging its way to you very soon.
It was a very tough decision for the judges. It even took us a day longer to make this announcement than we had expected. Many entries impressed us for one reason or another and narrowing down our shortlists to a single winner was a hard task.
We’ll try to mention a few of the entries that came close in the comments section. Thanks to all of you who gave this a shot!
Congratulations to Andy Jackson, and to those who set and judged the competition – it gave so many magma-lovers an opportunity to exercise their wit. Encore un fois (at the very least).
Congrats, Andy!
I’ll never be able to read that poem the same way again. Good work Andy. Really well written. It did make me think of all those poets who think they’re so seductive. So I suppose I’ll have that image of Marvell in my mind now too!
Congratulations for thinking up the competition Magma folk – most fun in poetry I’ve seen for a long time . . . H
Still not sure which Andy Jackson.
Thanks all – these little exercises are fun to do, and I was amazed to have been picked as the winner! The New Statesman do something similar each week (write a rap version of a well-known poem, write a chapter from a sci-fi novel in the style of PG Wodehouse, write a ‘Dear John’ letter from a famous author to their lover – you get the picture). So, yes, more please! I look forward to reading the ‘banned’ anthology…now, surely there’s a poem in this scenario just waiting to be written?
Oh, and Colin, it’s the ‘other’ Andy Jackson, i.e. Andy Z Jackson from Dundee rather than A B Jackson.
Thanks again Magma for the week of laughter this contest threw up!
I thought it was you Andy Z.
Quite a few entries came very close to winning for me. In fact, I could comfortably have picked a winner from any of several. Kate B Hall (entry 27) on Roger McGough was probably closest to winning on my list. Her entry was very well written and made me laugh. I also very much enjoyed Bob Dunning on Edward Lear.
A couple of fantastic phrases that deserve a mention, from other entries:
Tanja Cilia (entry 9) – “He does not realise, by the way, that the shadow sticks close to him because it is his, and no one else wants it.”
Ann Alexander (entry 22) – “Right minded people should get their daffodils from a flower stall (thus benefitting the economies of Cornwall and the Scillies, who are recognised as having the lowest per capita income in Britain.”
I had totally forgotten about this, until for some reason it came up in a Google Search just now… no winder everyone calls me The Late Mrs Cilia.
Andrew thoroughly deserved to win.
Incidentally, is the copyright for this still ous, because I’d like to expand and blog the entry, please?
Tanja, copyright remains with you for anything you post here, so feel free to blog and expand.