Six finalists announced for the 2011 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine - NZ poet included

Prizes for poems on a medical theme are to be awarded in the 2011 Hippocrates Prize, one of the highest value poetry awards in the world for a single poem, with £5000 each for first prize winners in open and in NHS categories.

Six finalists have been short listed from around 1,500 entries from 23 countries. The winners of the Hippocrates Prize will be announced at a symposium on Poetry and Medicine on 7th May at the University of Warwick, which is supporting the symposium jointly with the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.

The competition attracted entries from professional poets including rising poetry star New Zealander Johanna Emeney, (left), whose first collection appeared this year, Michael Henry, who has published 5 collections of poetry and Cheryl Moskowitz a writer of poetry for adults and children. They are finalists in the "open" category.

The Hippocrates Prize is also offered in an NHS category open to National Health Service-related employees and health students. The short listed candidates in this category are Belfast dentist Paula Cunningham, whose poems have been widely anthologised in Ireland and beyond, Wendy French, creative writer in the NHS, who won the inaugural 2010 £5000 Hippocrates NHS 1st Prize, and Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, associate specialist in psychosexual medicine in London.

Judges include broadcaster and writer Mark Lawson, former Welsh National Poet Gwyneth Lewis, and leading GP Prof Steve Field, Chairman of the National Inclusion Health Board.

The winning poems in the Hippocrates Prize, together with 20 commended poems in each category, are to be published in an anthology.

For more visit http://go.warwick.ac.uk/cpt/poetry/symp

Awards In each category there will be: 1st prize £5,000, 2nd prize £1,000, 3rd prize of £500, and 20 commendations each of £50.

Short list for the 2011 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine

Short list for Open Awards

Johanna Emeney - Radiologist's report One of New Zealand's rising poetry stars, Johanna's first collection 'Apple & Tree' was published in 2011 by Cape Catley Ltd. Johanna's work has appeared in the UK in The Guardian, and in Metro, North & South, Takahe and other New Zealand publications. Jo Emeney is an English teacher and lives on Auckland's North Shore, back home in New Zealand for four years, having spent fourteen years in England.

Michael Henry - The Patella Hammer Born in Liverpool in 1942, the son of an orthopaedic surgeon,Michael Henry grew up in Cheltenham where he now lives and read Modern Languages at Oxford. In his twenties he emigrated to teach in Canada and had his first poems published there, and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Since returning to England he’s had five collections published, four with Enitharmon Press. Footnote to History (2001) is a poetic biography of his uncle who was a prisoner-of-war. His latest publication, After the Dancing Dogs (2008), is about journeys - real, imaginary and personal. The book he is currently working on concerns family and identity.

Cheryl Moskowitz - Correspondence with the Care Home Cheryl Moskowitz was born in Chicago and has lived in London since the age of 11. Formerly an actor and playwright she co-founded the organization LAPIDUS (Literary Arts in Personal Development) in 1996 and has trained in dramatherapy and psychodynamic counseling. She taught on the Creative Writing and Personal Development MA at Sussex University for fourteen years and currently facilitates writing projects in various areas of the community including schools, prisons and with the homeless. Her novel Wyoming Trail (Granta) was published in 1998 and her poetry collection for children, Can It Be About Me, (Circle Time Press) in 2009.

Short list for NHS Awards

Paula Cunningham - The Chief Radiographer Considers Paula Cunningham was born in Omagh Co Tyrone in 1963 and has lived in Belfast for much of her adult life. She works part-time as a dentist. Paula’s poems have been widely anthologised in Ireland and beyond. Her poetry chapbook, 'A Dog Called Chance' was published by Smith Doorstop Books in 1999. Generous selections occur in Bloodaxe's 'The New Irish Poets' and Lagan's 'Magnetic North.' She has also published short fiction, and written for radio and stage. Her book, A Dog Called Chance, was published by Smith Doorstop in 1999. She has also written plays for Tinderbox and BBC Radio 4, and a short story appeared in Faber’s Best New Irish Short Stories 2004-5.

Wendy French - The Doctor's Wife -  Wendy French promotes writing in healthcare, educational and community settings currently working on two projects with people who have suffered from strokes or brain damage. She is past head of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School. She co- convenes the London group of Lapidus. Wendy won the NHS section of the Hippocrates Poetry & Medicine prize in April 2010. The winning poem, ‘it's about a man’, is about her father, one of the first doctors to work in the NHS in 1947. Wendy French’s new collection, surely you know this, was published by tall lighthouse in 2009. Wendy’s other collection Splintering the Dark and 3 co-edited books of poetry written by young people in hospital are all published by Rockingham.