Whittaker Prize 2010 Progress Report

So we’ve reached Round Three and something unexpected just happened – I won the round, with my poem “I Suppose We All Thought That, One Way or Another”. The eagle-eyed amongst you will instantly spot this as part of Robert Oppenheimer’s famous quote about the Trinity nuclear test, and there are other parts of the quote interspersed throughout the poem. It was partly inspired by our recent trip to India, where we actually passed through Pokhran, where the 1974 and 1998 Indian nuclear tests were carried out, although you’d never tell if you didn’t know.

To be honest, I didn’t think the piece would score that well, because I wasn’t really sure if I’d managed to say anything new. But what do I know? Anyway, that means that another of my poems has booked its place in this year’s anthology, which is cool. And I’ve just snuck into third place overall, too. Six more rounds to go, though, and there’s no way that I can keep up this level of consistency.

Oh, and if you’re feeling in need of some amusement, trot over to If Shakespeare …, where I blogged yesterday about some truly extraordinary film criticism.

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