2017 saw the inaugural year of the Mairtín Crawford Awards. The Award was organised in conjunction with Moyra Donaldson, a close friend of Mairtín, and in association with the Irish Writers Centre.

The first year of the Awards was for a Poetry Award only and the judging panel included Moyra Donaldson, Matt Kirkham and Paul Maddern.

Poetry Winner - Rosamund Taylor

The first ever winner of the Maírtin Crawford Award for Poetry 2017 was Rosamund Taylor.

Click here to read her winning work. 

Rosamund's poem The Proof won the London Magazine Poetry Competition in 2020. In 2019 she won third place for the Ginkgo Prize for Eco Poetry and was a recipient of a Words Ireland mentorship. Her poem, Pride 2017, was chosen by Poetry Ireland as one of twelve Pocket Poems to be widely distributed in celebration of National Poetry Day 2020. She has published over 40 poems in Ireland, Canada, the US and the UK. Recently, her poems have appeared in Banshee, Channel, Magma, Poetry Salzburg, Poetry Ireland Review and on Lambda Literary.

When asked how winning the Award has changed her writing career, Rosamund said: 

Winning the Mairtín Crawford Award was a huge boost to my confidence as a poet. Through the encouragement and guidance of my mentor, Paul Maddern, my work became more assured and I pushed myself to experiment and develop in new directions  I was offered readings in a number of different settings on the strength of the award, which has increased my profile, strengthened my skills as a performer, and helped me to polish and focus my work.

Runner-Up's

Ross Thompson

Michael Dooley