“MY DISABLED WORLD” – A Poetry Competition open to all
Our Competition runs from the 1st September through to 31st October 2020
It is open to anyone and everybody and it costs nothing to enter. We will publish as many of your entries as possible. Our Judges will collectively choose the ’11 most liked’ and we will collate these into an online book and publish on this website.
And each of our judges will write a foreword to one of those 11 poems .. so why not try to become a published poet with a preface from a famous judge?
Poems should be no more than 200/250 words long and with your entry you must let us know who is your favourite charity.
Poems should be ‘free form’ and about all the disabilities and perceived unfairness (real or otherwise) in our world. But whilst we want to be moved we also want to be lifted. Is their real humanity around us or are we simply living in a cold 21st century planet that turns its back on those who are disabled? But how you express your feelings about disability is totally for you to choose.
Entries to: POETRY@DISABILITYTALK.CO.UK
MY “DISABLED WORLD COMPETITION”
We asked Paul Zetter CBE to write an ‘anthem’ poem as a preface for our competition and he has called it ‘A BETTER WORLD’
Paul, on the right, taking part in the 2012 Olympic’s torch relay
A Poem from PAUL ZETTER CBE who is a lover of poetry and is 97 years young
“A BETTER WORLD”
Nobody is perfect,
That is a fact of living
Sad misunderstanding
Can foster great misgiving
But tolerance and common-sense
Will help to save the day
And calm a situation
To find a better way
In a patriotic nation
“Love of Country, Love of Life”
Has failed the test of history
And caused much human strife
Jingoistic tendencies
All seem well and good
But are not the best examples
And can be misunderstood
The human race takes many forms
In many different states
Different colours, cultures, idols – To whom belief relates
But we have one great thing in common We live upon a star
Human beings thro’ Millennium
Know just were they are
Humanity has entity
And simply has to show
That we must live together
On this planet that we know
If the world could only see what
What unity is worth
It could create, “Eureka”
The “United states of Earth”
Paul Zetter CBE
YOUR ENTRIES TO: POETRY@DISABILITYTALK.CO.UK
OUR PANEL OF JUDGES
STUART BENSUSAN (Businessman with a disabled daughter)
MARSHA de CORDOVA (Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities who is partially sighted)
VICKY FOXCROFT MP (Shadow Minister for Disabled People)
DAME EVELYN GLENNIE (Disabled Percussionist)
EILEEN GRUBBA (Disabled Hollywood Actress & Scriptwriter)
KAMRAN MALLICK (CEO of Disability Rights UK)
RUTH PATTERSON (Disabled lead singer with ‘Holy Moly & The Crackers’)
MARTYN SIBLEY (Disabled Entrepreneur)
ANGEL SINCLAIR (Founder of ‘Models of Diversity’)
JUSTIN TOMLINSON MP ( Minister for Disabled People)
KEELY CAT WELLS (Disabled Entrepreneur and Disability Activist)
TO ENTER:
POETRY@DISABILITYTALK.CO.UK