Suffolk University art student Danielle Newman has won the SNAP writing prize for her poem about Ipswich Waterfront, entitled The Froth.
An artist studying for a master’s degree at the University of Suffolk has won the SNAP writing prize for literature 2017 for a poem she wrote about the Waterfront in Ipswich.
The Student New Angle Prize is awarded annually and Danielle Newman, originally from London, will receive the award this week at the Ipswich Institute.
Danni, 24, is not on a writing or English course at the university, but is studying for her master’s in Fine Arts.
Her prize-winning poem, entitled The Froth, is about her experiences in the town, at university, and living close to the Waterfront.
She said: “I’m from London which is such a vast place and it can often feel like living in a sea of strangers. The Waterfront feels like the community heart of Ipswich, where people know the town, the roads and each other. I wanted to write a poem that captured the essence of community in Ipswich.”
Danni says the award has inspired her to continue to develop her writing.
She said: “I have always loved to write, and won some prizes as a schoolgirl. I am a sporadic artist and writer.
“It is more of a hobby, but if I am inspired I can work really quickly.”
Her prize-winning poem, entitled The Froth, comes from her heart and is about her experiences in Ipswich, at university, and living close to the Waterfront.
She added: “My poem is about the people around Ipswich.
She said: “I was inspired to enter because I felt I had something to say which answered the brief. I only ever write something if I feel it or have some experience of it.
“I’ve been in Ipswich studying now for five years and have walked along the Waterfront hundreds of times and at all different times of night and day. I’ve seen every kind of person along there, people of different ages and classes mingling together - I’ve seen lonely people, groups of teenagers, parties, the police.
“I’m from London which is such a vast place and it can often feel like living in a sea of strangers. The Waterfront feels like the community heart of Ipswich, where people know the town, the roads and each other. I wanted to write a poem that captured the essence of community in Ipswich.”
The Froth by Danielle Newman
Sailor spit dives into grooves
The rotting wood split like
Concrete splits the river
That kisses the waters front
Creaking metal binds
Bent planks and chains
Glass of all hues
Reaching up, bearing the brunt
Of rainy skies and froth
Kissing the lips of
A weary bay
Sheared by salty tide, empty
Like the long spaces
Between homelessness
And glittering lights
Of a hundred moneymakers freely
Walking amongst gull-chatter
A waning moon to
The rowdy running
Of water down stony blocks
Vacant and crumbling
A whisper of want
Whistling around masts
Fading, rising, rocking the dock
Affixed to sterling notes
Bobbing predators sleeping
Tapping against shells
Dead, scattered like gold
Catching light and beaks
The peeling of nature
Weathering beneath
Rubber and metal old
Slacking rope, rusty stands
Barricades guiding machines
Someone sitting smoking
Fifty shadows still and alone
Deep scents ghosting
Crinkled blue-black
A car’s headlights
Glowering down upon
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