Rose van Son wins Fremantle Press Tanka writing competition

There were a number of strong entries for the 2011 Fremantle Press Online Tanka Competition. The judges, Wendy Jenkins and Andrew Lansdown, settled on a shortlist of three tanka and, after some toing-and-froing, selected ‘Old Flame’ by Rose van Son as the winner:



all the candles lit
just a flicker now and then
the bowl tightly fits
what is left of you and me
murmurings behind closed doors

— Rose van Son.


As Wendy commented in a recent post, ‘Old Flame' uses metaphor to evoke the passing of time and dying down of love’s first flame’. Both Wendy and Andrew felt that ‘Old Flame’ had a mysterious, open quality. It is an atmospheric poem, conveying both visual and emotional shiftings of light and shadow.

And congratulations to Freo Press for running such a competition.