Mingled Voices 6

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MINGLED VOICES 6 contains the work of sixty-seven poets. The one hundred and thirty-three or so poems were selected from those entered for the International Proverse Poetry Prize in 2021, the sixth such annual international competition administered from Hong Kong.

The International Proverse Poetry Prize was jointly founded in 2016 by Dr Gillian Bickley and Dr Verner Bickley, MBE, in association with the annual international Proverse Prize for unpublished book-length fiction, non-fiction or poetry, submitted in English, which they also founded, in 2008.

Poems could be submitted on any subject or topic, chosen by each poet, or on the subject chosen for 2021 by the Administrators, “Shielding” (interpreted in any way each writer chose). There was a free choice of interpretation, form and style.

Included in the anthology are the poems that won the first, second, and third prizes. Selection to appear in the anthology was also awarded as a prize by the judges. This year, special mention is additionally made of five of these poets.

Poems were submitted from around the world by writers with a variety of previous writing experience.

Brief biographies of all of those whose work is represented in Mingled Voices 6 are included in the anthology as well as authors’ background notes on their work.

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“An intriguing despatch from the front lines. – If, in Shelley’s famous phrase, poets are (or were) the ‘unacknowledged legislators of the world’, then perhaps these days or at least in this volume they are the non-credentialed journalists of the inner experience of the pandemic.”

—Jeff Streeter, Director of the British Council in Hong Kong

 “I genuinely feel that one of the greatest gifts poetry offers us is to realise that we are not alone in the world – that our own lives, thoughts and experiences matter and are reflected in others. I also firmly believe that poetry finds its most important place in times of greatest need. The challenges we face currently...seem to weigh so very heavily. For me, as a poet and as a reader, it is in these times that I turn to poetry to help me to reflect not only on the joy and beauty we can experience in the world around us, but also to remind me of our extraordinary ability, throughout the eons, as human beings, to always try to lean into the light. I commend the editors, and all of the poets in these pages, for raising a lantern in the darkness so that people...can continue to find human connection, solace and hope through the gift of poetry in our world.”

Anne Casey, Australia, First Prize Winner, Proverse Poetry Prize (Single Poems), 2020

Mingled Voices 6 brings together diverse voices from across the world in an inspiring anthology – an anthology that, with each hidden gem, sustains the reader with its well-crafted beauty.

—Charles Lowe, PhD, Associate Professor/Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching, and Student Experience, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, United International College, Zhuhai, China

“The richness of the themes explored in this anthology and the compelling ways in which they emerge manifest the power of words. Quoting Joy al-Sofi in ‘Words’ (p. 9) “Do they just connect/Or do they separate?/A bridge always goes both ways.” I do believe, as Joy al-Sofi writes, that words can both unite and separate people, but I am certain that poetry can help us come together and heal, as we remove our shields, reimagine a better world, and inspire one another in shared humanity. 

The bridge of poetry will always connect those who are looking for shelter, and those who offer a helping hand.”

—Paola Caronni, Proverse Prize Winner 2020