So happy and grateful that my poem “Imagine” won 2nd prize in the world’s first ever Brilliant Poetry competition, judged by Dava Sobel!
Congratulations to 1st prize winner Kathryn Spratt (“Impressions”) and 3rd prize winner Sangeetha Balakrishnan (“The Valency of Blue”)!
Brilliant Poetry is an initiative of Dr Sam Illingworth, award-winning researcher in science communication and Professor of Creative Pedagogies at Edinburgh Napier University, and Kylie Ahern, publisher of the science communication publication, The Brilliant, and CEO of strategy consultancy, STEM Matters. According to the organizers, Brilliant Poetry champions the power of poetry to make the complex and often abstract world of scientific inquiry accessible and captivating to all. The competition seeks to reinforce the value of artistic expression in expanding our perception of what it means to know and to discover.
Read Dr Illingworth’s reflections on the competition:
Our competition judge Dava Sobel, an acclaimed author known for her ability to weave complex scientific concepts into engaging narratives, brought a thoughtful approach to evaluating the entries. She says she was “happily stunned by the quality of the work”, appreciating the emotional depth with which poets engaged scientific themes…
The competition’s first prize was awarded to Kathryn Spratt for ‘Impressions’, a poem that uses the metaphor of fossils embedded in stone to explore themes of memory, legacy and personal history.
The second prize went to Aileen Cassinetto’s ‘Imagine’, which melds historical and personal timelines to reflect on the relativity of experiences and the impact of scientific breakthroughs.
Third place was won by Sangeetha Balakrishnan, for ‘The Valency of Blue’, which portrays the behaviours of the blue-footed booby, drawing attention to environmental concerns through personal and natural interactions.
Please save the date for The Brilliant Poetry – Inaugural Reading celebrating all shortlisted poets:
Thursday, 30 January 2025
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM GMT (UK)
*6:00–6:45 AM PST (California, USA) / 7:00–7:45 AM MST (Utah, USA) / 9:00–9:45 AM EST (Toronto, Canada) / 11:00–11:45 AM ART (Argentina) / 7:30–8:15 PM IST (India) / 11:00–11:45 PM AWST (Perth, Australia) / (Fri, 31 Jan) 1:00–1:45 AM AEST (Sydney, Australia)
This event is proudly sponsored by The Brilliant and the Scottish Poetry Library, and will be hosted by Dr Illingworth, Ms Ahern and Brian Brophy, Director of Caltech Theater & Story Coach at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Aileen Cassinetto 