Renowned poet Imtiaz Dharker has been named the judge for the 2025 Guernsey International Poetry Competition, which launched this week as part of the Guernsey Literary Festival. Dharker, who is widely respected in the literary world, will oversee the competition, known as “Poems on the Move,” which attracted over 3,000 entries last year from 49 countries, including the UK, Australia, Japan, Nigeria, and the UAE.
Dharker is a poet, artist, and filmmaker, with seven poetry collections to her name, the most recent being Shadow Reader. She was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014 and has been serving as Chancellor of Newcastle University since 2020. Her work has been featured on BBC radio and television, as well as public spaces such as the London Underground and Mumbai buses. In addition to her poetry, Dharker has held 11 solo exhibitions of her drawings and scripts and has directed several video films for NGOs working on issues like shelter, education, and health for women and children in India.
As part of the festival, Dharker will host a presentation and reading event for the winners on May 2, 2025. She will also give a personal reading of her own poetry and visit local schools to engage with students.
The competition features three categories: Open (with a £1,000 top prize), Channel Islands (£250), and Young Poet (£250). Cash prizes will also be awarded for second and third place in each category. Selected poems will be displayed at Guernsey Airport and other locations on the island as part of the “Poems on the Move” initiative, with 21 poems set to appear on local buses.
Candy Neubert, a poet born in Guernsey, will serve as the filter judge. Neubert’s poetry collections Channel and Island are inspired by her home island.
The competition, sponsored by Specsavers and supported by Guernsey Arts, has seen growing participation. Specsavers co-founder Dame Mary Perkins expressed her delight at the increasing number of entries, noting the international diversity of participants. “It’s an event we are very proud to support,” she said.
In 2024, the £1,000 first prize in the Open category was awarded to Iona Roisin, a British artist and poet based in Helsinki, Finland. Roisin was among the winners who traveled to Guernsey for the presentation event during last year’s festival.
The competition has a history of celebrated judges, including Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Kate Clanchy, Ian MacMillan, Maura Dooley, Daljit Nagra, and Gwyneth Lewis. Last year’s judge was Paul Muldoon.
In the 2024 Channel Islands category, Guernsey-based poets took both top spots. Theodore Cross won first prize for his poem After Guernesiais, while Shaun Shackleton claimed second for Goit. Cross’s winning poem will be displayed at the Market Steps in Guernsey starting this week.
Reflecting on his poem, Cross said he aimed to capture the decline of Guernesiais, the local language, through his family’s lineage. “I wanted to express the profound connection Guernsey has with its landscape and the almost mythic importance of this fading language,” he shared. “I hope this win sparks more serious discussions about Guernesiais as we are at a critical point in its survival.”