Results: 2019 Poetry for Justice Competitions

In March 2019, the Author Zigo’s Foundation started a Poetry for Justice Project. The foundation launched a Poetry for Justice Competition in which interested participants could submit a poem on one or both of the following concepts: Human Rights, Liberties, Freedoms and Justice (and related topics).

Watch This Video for Full Results

We understand that millions of people around the world, especially in less advanced countries, are living under repressive regimes, where there is little or no freedom of speech and rights of minorities trampled upon.  In these regimes, Human Right abuses are still on the rise and citizens have little or no access to JUSTICE.

Our original objective was to create an opportunity for citizens of the world to tell their stories in the form of poetry. It was an opportunity for you to use your voice and pen – to use poetry to create awareness about your predicament and the predicament of others.

The competition  was for everyone, anywhere. Deadline for submissions of poems was scheduled for October 30^th, 2019. Results of the competition were to be announced on 20^th December, 2019 and prizes to follow suit. Here are the full results.

20 poems were submitted by participants from twelve different countries. We disqualified and deleted 9 poems, because these poems didn’t meet the objectives for which the contest was organised. It is important to note that most of the poems were submitted by amateurs. It is also important to note that this year, we were not strict at all. Our assessment of poems didn’t take many points into consideration. Our focus was the message portrayed in the poem and not how well written the poem was.

Not many poems were submitted this year. As such, we didn’t have to find many examiners. Two examiners were enough. These examiners received each poem  (without knowledge of who wrote it), and rated it on a scale of 10, with 10 being the highest score. The four best poems were shortlisted as winning poems.

Winners of the Competitions

Here are the winners of the competition.

1. Chrystel Roberts (Zambia). Different but Equal.

Chrystel received the first prize for her short poem, Different but Equal.

Watch the video below

2. Ričards Umbraško (Latvia) Us and Them. 2nd Prize

3. Aminkeng Ophilia (Kuwait) Africa Predator. 3rd Prize

4. Lucia Sibih Zenabo (Cameroon) Peace. 4th Prize.

A sample poem was provided by the organiser of the contest. You can find it here. YOU ARE GUILTY

Watch Video of Sample Poem Below

All winners have collected their Prizes. Our next poetry contests will be announced soon.

Let us know if you want to participate or sponsor this year's contests.

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