The Edward Thomas Literary Festival 2024
Poetry, Prose and Birdsong
Thursday 3 October – Saturday 12 October
Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery and Online
Tickets are now on sale at Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery.
Tickets are now on sale at Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery.
The Edward Thomas Poetry Competition 2025 for the Edward Cawston Prize is now live and entries are being accepted.
The closing date has been changed from this year and will now be in DECEMBER. For the 2025 competition it is 3 DECEMBER 2024.
Full details can be found by following this link.… Continue Reading
Meet outside Sainsbury’s close to the station
What Three Words https://w3w.co/alarm.choice.code
Lucy Milner, Edward & Helen’s great-granddaughter, will be leading the walk, largely following the map and guidance kindly provided by Benedict Mackay https://edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1.-Wandsworth-Common.pdf I would highly recommend downloading/reading this document in advance.
This walk is approximately 4kms and will be undertaken at a leisurely pace, taking time for readings, chances to photograph, ask questions etc, en route. The terrain is easy, mostly on pavements and well established paths on Wandsworth Common.
Lunch will be at approximately 12.45/1pm and I would advise bringing a pack up/picnic (remember Sainsbury’s at the walk’s start) which can be eaten on the Common opposite the Hope pub in Bellevue Road.… Continue Reading
Following the success of the Essay Competition in 2022-2023, in the competition’s second year we invited year 12 and 13 students to write a close reading of Edward Thomas’ “As the team’s head brass”.
We were delighted to receive a total of 36 entries altogether, from 15 different schools, which included a spread of schools from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The quality of the essays in response to “As the team’s head brass” was very high. Selecting a shortlist and the eventual winners was particularly challenging.
Congratulations to Ruby O from Wellington College, our Winner this year, and our thanks to everyone who submitted an entry this year:
For a full list of winning entries, the results report and Ruby’s essay please visit our Results page.… Continue Reading
The Edward Thomas Fellowship Poetry Competition 2024, Edward Cawston Thomas Prize.
We are pleased to announce the names of the winners of the 2024 Competition, judged by the award- winning poet Jane Draycott. As usual we have a First prize, with two equal Second prizes, followed by six Highly Commended poems. There were just over three hundred poems entered and our thanks to everyone who entered and warm congratulations to the winners.
Jane Draycott’s report and appreciation of the three main winning poems is available by following this link, followed by details of the Highly Commended winners.… Continue Reading
On Friday 6 October in the evening (UK time) join members of the Edward Thomas Fellowship and the Robert Frost Society for a transatlantic online discussion about the two poets who were also great friends.
This will be the fourth such gathering and this year will look at the influences of Hampshire and New Hampshire on both men.
On Saturday 7 October, at The Avenue Pavilion, Petersfield, and online we will be holding a full day of talks and poetry readings inspired by the life and work of Edward Thomas and other poets and writers of that period.… Continue Reading
The 2024 competition for the Edward Cawston Thomas Poetry Prize is now open and accepting entries.
Poems, unpublished, are invited on any subject but of no more than forty lines.
Closing date January 7th 2024.
The judge will be the prize-winning poet Jane Draycott.
Prizes:1st prize £150, two further £75 prizes and up to six highly commended of £25. Winners are welcome to read at the Edward Thomas Fellowship AGM on 5th March at Steep, Hampshire.
Fees are £3 per poem with a maximum of three entered per person.… Continue Reading
As part of the Fellowship Committee’s wish to expand our activities and engagement, we are delighted to bring you details of this event which has been organised by members Margaret Keeping (author of A Conscious Englishman and also a Committee Member) and Julia Maxted (former Newsletter editor).
With morning and afternoon talks, the opportunity to view archival material and an optional walk, this promises to be an interesting and varied day. It will be taking place in the Museum Road complex of Edward’s College, Lincoln.
For further information and news about the publication date and pricing please click here.… Continue Reading
This year’s Competition attracted over three hundred poems. The judge, Jane Draycott, writes that she found the sifting and final choices very difficult, with poems of powerful quality, strong and strongly-felt.