Talented Wick-based student wins trophy in poetry competition
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A young wordsmith from Caithness has picked up the top prize in an inaugural poetry competition.
Wick-based student Florence Murton-Armer received the accolade for her poem titled 'Wide and Free' after entering the High Life Poetry Prize, which was delivered collaboratively by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and High Life Highland (HLH).
Submissions were open to all active UHI students with entries on the theme ‘My Life in the Highlands and Islands’ with the winner unveiled in a virtual cross-campus ceremony.
Speaking about her win, Florence said: “I'm home-schooled and have enjoyed studying a variety of courses through UHI North Highland over the past few years.
“I live in Caithness and love to create. Living by the sea gives me lots of inspiration to use my imagination. I love exploring the beaches and wild landscapes Caithness has to offer, the big Caithness skies are one of its features that inspired Wide and Free.”
The poetry competition entrants came from those attending UHI Outer Hebrides, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, UHI North Highland, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye, UHI Shetland, and UHI Perth. Entries were received in English, Gaelic, Scots and, Shetlandic.
The poems were shortlisted by an internal panel of UHI lecturers for our courses of Creative Writing, Literature and Gaelic.
Julie Corcoran, High Life Highland’s head of libraries, said: “We were all very impressed by the selection of entries, as well as the broad geography they all covered in area and in language. It was incredibly tough to narrow down a winner for the competition, with such unique entries!
“Ultimately what it came down to was that we felt the most connected to Florence’s poem. The more we read, the more we were immersed into a sensory experience that allowed us to experience Wick through her eyes. Her composition is expressive, lyrical, and beautiful.”
Steve Walsh, High Life Highland’s chief executive, added: "Florence is a fantastic writer and is very deserving of winning the first ever ‘High Life Highland Poetry Prize’. High Life Highland is excited to be working in collaboration with UHI to see this competition grow, and in doing so, continue to celebrate the diverse culture within Highland and Island communities.”
Florence's prize includes a £100 voucher, a custom-engraved trophy which will be displayed at UHI North Highland – and an extract of the poem displayed on the walls of the her local library, East Caithness Community Facility.
Florence’s poem ‘Wide and Free’:
Standing on the cliff top
one Wick summer morning,
salt wind sighing round my ankles.
No mountains yawn here.
I watch boat busy men gearing up,
a sea washed journey calling.
A giant playground, fit for a sea king frolicking the waves.
The puff put of grease oiled engines float
to rooftops barnacled with gulls,
gossiping with their lewd catcalls,
breaking slumber.
In dribs and drabs the unhurried boats
steel out to comb the flotsam drift matter.
I watch until they dwindle on that
wide northern horizon.
I turn for home,
Dive-bomb gulls fly one by one,
wings outstretched
where the north is wide and free.
