Crysse Morrison Prize for Poetry
Following the success the inaugural competition in 2023, the Crysse Morrison Prize for Poetry has become an annual highlight of our programme. Best known for her wealth of writing and her love of Frome Festival, Crysse was an inspirational writer who always championed poetry throughout the Festival.
2025 – WINNERS AND COMMENDED
Thanks to the many entrants for this year’s competition!
First Prize
Barium Swallow – Glen Wilson
Second Prize
Marmalade – Nat Taplin
Third Prize
Catherine in Heels – Patricia Minson
Local Prize
In Care – Tracey Rupp-Rawlins
L-R: Festival Co-Chair Rosie Eliot, Local Prize winner Tracey Rupp-Rawlins, Festival Founder and President Martin Bax. Photo: Tori Allison / FWP
Crysse Morrison
Sponsored by
Luke Wright – JUDGE
After a quarter of a century on stages across the world Luke Wright is a poet and raconteur at the top of his game. Both brazen and elegiac, Wright’s poems pull on the tidy hem of responsible existence to unravel the frustrations of the family, politics and masculinity in 21st century Britain.
He marries his inventive writing with breath-taking performance skills to take audiences on an incredible emotional journey. He’s the regular tour support for John Cooper Clarke and often MCs shows for The Libertines. He’s a regular on Radio 4 and has won a Fringe First for writing , a Stage Award for performance, and was the 2021 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year.
The animated short films he wrote for director Jon Dunleavy were voiced by Robert Lindsay and David Soul. He’s written poetry for two documentaries on Channel 4. The Seven Ages of Love (dir. Zara Hayes) was shortlisted for a Grierson Award.
He’s written four poetry collections and six pamphlets his latest is Pub Grub. His plays have been published as epic poems by Penned in the Margins. His pamphlet, After Engine Trouble (Rough Trade Books), won the Saboteur Award for best pamphlet in 2019. To celebrate 20 years of gigging Nymphs & Thugs put out the double album TWENTY on LP and download.
2024 – WINNERS AND COMMENDED
Judge – Emma Purshouse
L-R: Judge Emma Purshouse, First Prize winner Ian Royce Chamberlain, Festival Chair Rosie Eliot, Local Prize winner David Thompson, Phil Jackson (Highly Commended) at the Prize-giving event at Bistro Lotte. Photo credit: Tori Allison
First Prize
Good Friday – Ian Royce Chamberlain
Second Prize
Of Settlement. Of Roots – Jane Burn
Third Prize
The Art of Astronomy – Sarah Doyle
Local Prize
The Long Man – David Thompson
Highly Commended
Christine Griffin
Claire Morris
Graeme Ryan
Mark Connors
Carol Caffrey
Dr Jennifer A McGowan
Phil Jackson
2023 – WINNERS AND COMMENDED
Judge – Rosie Jackson
First Prize
Egg – Kathryn Bevis
Second Prize
Song of Ham’s Wife – Jeff Phelps
Third Prize
Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, 1 September 2001 – Tessa Strickland
Local Prize
The Pale Blue Box – Alice Caudle
Highly Commended
My Mother Discharges Me from Worry – Owen Gallagher
Bookends – Sara-Jane Arbury
Commended
Lahore, 2022 – Abby Crawford
Lichfield Angel – Tessa Strickland
St Tudwal in the Field – Christopher James
Holy days – Dillon Jaxx