SENTINEL CHAMPIONS #9

Winners and commended poems and short stories from the Sentinel Annual Poetry Competition 2011 judged by Roger Elkin, Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition (July 2011) judged by Bob Beagrie and Sentinel Literary Quarterly Short Story Competition (July 2011) judged by Kachi A. Ozumba.

Foreword

This issue Sentinel Champions is different from others because it features work from not just the Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry and Short Story Competitions July 2011, but also the winning and highly commended poems from the Sentinel Annual Poetry Competition 2011 (SAPC-11).

Let’s begin the delicious journey with ‘The Maitre d’’ – the first prized short story by Leo Madigan from our July 2011 quarterly competition. It is a charming tale about Jimmy, a waiter who wants to make good, live the good life and give Suzie, his girlfriend the time of her life. Madigan so brings to life the insecurities of the poor stepping into the world of the rich and famous that we can taste them. But at the end of this story, Jimmy gets to realise that things are not always what they seem and that he is not alone in the world of make-believe. A well-accomplished tale with believable characters.

We move straight on to ‘The Causation of the Virgin Mother in a Tipperary Barn’ - the multi-layered poem by Terry Jones, winner of our annual poetry competition £500 first prize. My Catholic-born wife was not at all very pleased with the poem simply on the account of the title. She never read it, but wondered why a poem about sex with the Virgin Mother (thinking Virgin Mary here) in a barn should be so honoured. Having not read the poem myself at the time, I had said, “first of all I don’t think causation means having sex, and in any case, I don’t believe that Virgin Mary ever was at a barn in the Munster area of the Republic of Ireland.” After five readings and I am certain to read this poem some more, I can attest that this poem is a masterfully-crafted, somewhat mischievous brain teaser that ransacks the back garden of physical and spiritual relationships to show how egos in relationships respond to each other’s actions and feelings. There is intimacy here and the beautiful girl in it could be any special one on any given day and it is all highly subject to interpretation. This is how The Causation begins:

O but she was a lovely girl, the shadow in her hair,

and her eye like a glint of water, light on her face,

way she stood with a bend of the hip like a tree

and her head tilted.  Pure as a well the leg and lift of her;

light as a blossom on a meadow’s wind,

Read the full foreword here >>

Contents

Short Stories

LEO MADIGAN - The Maitre d'

JULIA BOHANNA - Children of the Rubble

WARREN PAUL GLOVER - Table for Two?

JOHN PALGREN - Once Upon a Time

BARBARA MAINES BERG - And I Smiled for My Daddy

ANYA CATES - The Pancake Maker's Apprentice

Poems

TERRY JONES - The Causation of the Virgin Mother in a Tipperary Barn

LINDA BURNETT - Honesty in Winter

JEN CAMPBELL - The Chicken, The Egg and My Sister

HARRY BATTY - Goose Green

LYNN ROBERTS - Turner: Rain, Steam, and Speed

PAUL GROVES - From on High

STEPHEN DEMPSEY - On Balance

GERALDINE PAINE - Her Riley

JENNY DONNISON - Starlings

                              - Aestivation

RICHARD HALPERIN - The River 8

                 - From the Shore

ANDREAS MARIA AXEL - Black Cat (Tvi-Tvi-Tvi)

ADURA OJO - Four Corners

JV BIRCH - The Cut

GLYN ROBERTS - Fall-Out

                         - Free Embroidery

TRACEY WARD - Over

JAMIL DHANJI - Full Circle

ELIZABETH HUGHES - Nap Time with My Daughter

MANDY PANNETT - Ambience: A Variation

IRENA POSTLOVA - In-betweeners

ROBIN DAGLISH - Scotland

Judges' Reports

On the SLQ Poetry Competition by Bob Beagrie

On the SLQ Short Story Competition by Kachi A. Ozumba

On the Sentinel Annual Poetry Competition by Roger Elkin

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