Tuesday, May 15, 2012

2012 Hippocrates Awards for Poetry and Medicine.



In London on 12th May at the 3rd International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine, judges broadcaster Martha Kearney, Paris-based US poet Marilyn Hacker and medical researcher Professor Rod Flower FRS  announced the awards for the 2012 Hippocrates Awards for Poetry and Medicine. 

The £5000 open international Hippocrates first prize went to American poet Mary Bush, from North Texas for her poem 'Women's work'. 
The £5000 NHS-related Hippocrates first prize went to former nurse Nick McKinnon from Wincheste for his poem Claybury. 

Professor Donald Singer said 'Fellow organizers Michael Hulse, Sorcha Gunne and I were  delighted by the increasing international interest in the interface between poetry and medicine which has been stimulated by the Hippocrates poetry and medicine initiative, with entries from 23 countries this year, and from over 40 countries since the launch of the Hippocrates awards in 2009.'

'The beautiful poetry in this year’s winning entries illustrates many themes, from the history of medicine, to the experience of patients and health professionals, and the engagement of researchers in translating new medical ideas into practice: Open winner Mary Bush from North Texas touching on the human side of medical research in her multi-layered poem about the role of women at the forefront of clinical science; and NHS winner Nick McKinnon illustrating the impact on patients and staff of the progression over the past century of treatment for disorders of the mind.'

The programme for the symposium and the awards can be downloaded from:

The 46 awarded and commended entries have been published in the 2012 Hippocrates Awards Anthology, launched at the 2012 Hippocrates Awards in London, on Saturday 12th May.

The awards were supported by the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Trust.

Judges for the 2103 awards will include poet Jo Shapcott

For more details on these and the other prize-winners, see:

No comments: