The London Magazine’s October/November Issue has launched containing the prizewinning poems from The London Magazine’s Poetry Competition.

1st place: Isabel Gallymore – ‘Difficult Cup’

2nd place: Wes Lee – ‘Lifesaving’

3rd place: Theophilus Kwek – ‘What Follows’

The London Magazine is England’s oldest literary periodical, with a history stretching back to 1732. ‘Across a long life – spanning several incarnations – the pages of the Magazine have played host to a wide range of canonical writers, from Wordsworth, Shelley, Hazlitt and Keats in the 18th-century, to T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and Evelyn Waugh in the early 20th-century. Today – reinvigorated for a new century – the Magazine’s essence remains unchanged: it is a home for the best writing, and an indispensable feature on the British literary landscape.’

‘In its continuing project of promoting emerging poetic talent, The London Magazine runs an annual poetry competition, providing the opportunity for publication in one of the most highly respected and established literary periodicals.’

The judges for this year’s competition were Tristram Fane-Saunders and Holly Howitt-Dring.

Holly Howitt-Dring: Holly is a writer and academic, originally from Wales. She writes poetry, novels and short fiction, as well as academic articles, and is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Portsmouth University.

Tristram Fane-Saunders is a poet and journalist, living in Scotland. He is the poetry editor of The Saint, and a critic for Radio Times. His first chapbook, ‘Intro #5? was published in 2011, and his latest sequence, ‘Almanac’, was the recipient of the 2014 Quiller-Couch Prize. Tristram has performed his work extensively across the UK, at festivals including Latitude, Brainchild and the Edinburgh Fringe.