The poem selected for the 2011 Montreal International Poetry Prize is “Walking Underwater” by Australian poet Mark Tredinnick.
The winning poem was selected by former UK poet laureate Andrew Motion from a shortlist of nearly 50 poems. “This is a bold, big-thinking poem, in which ancient themes (especially the theme of our human relationship with landscape) are re-cast and re-kindled. It well deserves its eminence as a prize winner,” said Motion.
When asked to say a few words about the Montreal Prize, Mark responded: “This prize celebrates the making of poetry everywhere, in particular all of the shortlisted poems. To win it feels completely improbable. It’s a huge delight and an honour I’ll try to keep living up to in my writing.”
The nonprofit Montreal Prize is a first-of-its-kind global poetry competition awarding $50,000 for one poem.
For information on the prize, visit the website: http://montrealprize.com/