University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) lecturer wins BBC Radio 3 competition

A lecturer’s love of Johann Sebastian Bach has led to her winning a national poetry competition.

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UCLan lecturer Elizabeth Burns was named the over 18 category winner of BBC Radio 3’s 2012 Proms poetry contest.

Her prizewinning work, called Listening to Bach’s B Minor Mass in the kitchen, was read out on national radio during the interval of the Proms.

Elizabeth, who teaches on the MA Children’s Writing course, said: “Winning this competition was a huge honour. It was great to have the poem read so beautifully on air and to know it would be listened to by thousands of people.

“I’d never tried writing about music before, and it felt a challenge to try and capture something of the piece in words, but hopefully the poem succeeded in doing that.”

Presenter Ian McMillan and poet Wendy Cope both praised Elizabeth’s literary skills.

Ian said: “It was a clear winner for me. What I liked was the specific language.”

Wendy added: “I loved the way the rhythm flowed. The way it takes off and comes to an end is great. I’m really impressed by it.”

Elizabeth, whose favourite composer is Bach, has taught various creative writing modules at UCLan since 2003.

Source: UCLan News