Pub poet comp seeks verse fit for Poet Laureate
Country pub restaurant collection, Vintage Inns, is on the lookout for budding poets in a national competition backed by former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion.
Over seven weeks, contributors are being invited to co-author an eight-line poem inspired by Sir Andrew’s work on Vintage Inns’ latest national press campaign, which honours the Great British rural pub. He was born into a family of pub-owners and brewers and so was the natural choice.
Sir Andrew will judge the best line submitted each week, so they can be added to gradually complete the verse. Each winner will receive a framed copy of the eventual eight-line poem, plus a meal for four with wine at their local Vintage Inn.
There are also 70 signed copies of Sir Andrew’s latest collection of poems, The Cinder Path, which has been shortlisted for The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, with 10 to be given away each week (to the winning co-author plus 9 runners up).
This lyrical competition with a difference is being hosted at a ‘Poetry Competition’ tab on the Vintage Inns Facebook page at facebook.com/vintageinns from Monday 17th October. The first line to start minds wandering is: The muted brilliance of autumn leaves.... Sir Andrew will judge the best each week, which will be added to the poem and uploaded ready for the next line the following week.
Joanne Kay, senior marketing manager for Vintage Inns, says: “Our new advertising campaign is based on the idea ‘find your country side’ and it’s all to do with escaping from the stresses and strains of everyday life by visiting the perfect country pub, a Vintage Inn. We trust that as our guests arrive in one of our 200 inns across the country, they get a taste of well-being, natural warmth and hospitality - so we’re hoping for some insightful and inspirational contributions.”
After the first line is published on Monday 17th October, weekly submissions will close on Thursdays at 5pm, but Vintage Inns Facebook fans can enter as many times as they like. The weekly winning line chosen by Sir Andrew Motion will be published the following Monday. The competition will then re-open for submissions for the next line, with the seventh and last one uploaded on Monday 28th November - for entrants to complete the poem.
The poem should be in rhyming couplets, so lines one and two should rhyme with each other- and so on. And for those seeking inspiration, here is one of the evocative poems Sir Andrew has written exclusively for Vintage Inns, which is themed around discovering your perfect rural pub...
From the hassles of our working
and the tangles of our streets
we arrive in winding villages
where peace and pleasure meet.
All around us worlds of trouble
turn and tremble as they please.
We are rich in the fulfilment
of our vintage life at ease.
Vintage Inns is a unique and 200-strong collection of the nation’s best traditional (yet contemporary) dining pubs specialising in home cooked food, fine wines and cask-conditioned ales. Visit the company website at vintageinn.co.uk.
