Winners - King Lear Prizes 2021
Congratulations to our King Lear Prizes 2021 winners!
Poetry
Beginner - Denise Rivers, Cancer Flower
Experienced Amateur - Peter Lindley, The Cutting Room
Real Story
Beginner - Jeannette Warren, Apple Blossom Time
Experienced Amateur - Martine MacCormack, The Lesson
Art
Beginner - Tizzie Lambert, Going Nowhere
Experienced Amateur - Angela Gawn, Self-portrait
Chairman's Category - Philip Cuttell, Lockdown
Musical Performance
Beginner - Ken Calvert, Seasons of the Sea
Experienced Amateur - Colin Billyard, Moonlight in Vermont
Message from the Chairman of the King Lear Prize Committee
MONDAY 2 AUGUST 2021: I am thrilled to announce the winners of the King Lear Prizes 2021. After launching the King Lear Prizes during the first lockdown in 2020, and receiving thousands of entries from across the UK, we wanted to run the competition again in 2021 to celebrate the creativity and talent of our participants.
Once again, we received thousands and thousands of entries across our four categories, and the standard was incredibly impressive: as you can see from our shortlists, the judging was a difficult task. All of our winners are over sixty-five and are not professionals in the category which they entered. Their work is superb, and they show just what creative talent lies out there, often undiscovered or uncelebrated.
I’d like to thank our judges for their efforts, and I would also like to thank the volunteer team who have helped with organising the King Lear Prizes.
At the King Lear Prizes we believe in “doing, not just viewing”, and our prizewinners are brilliant examples of doing just that. I hope you enjoy looking through their winning entries, and I hope that they inspire you in your own creative projects.
Andrew Browning
Chairman, King Lear Prize Committee
ART
“It is a great honour and pleasure to be a judge for the King Lear Prizes.
All of these winning entries communicated with me, each unique and full of individual expression.
Art and creativity is the very soul of our civilisation; it can mean so many different things to artists and the viewer, and interpretation is all a matter of perspectives.
The shortlisted entries presented a full spectrum to enjoy - thank you, such heart, in all the work, such focus, emotion, playfulness, and passion.
These past months have clearly presented challenges to endure. The King Lear Prizes are a testimony to Art being an expression and a joy. Hooray for creativity, and congratulations to all who entered!”
Kate Malone MBE is one of the UK’s leading ceramic artists.
Beginner: Tizzie Lambert, Going Nowhere
Tizzie Lambert lives in Tankerton, part of the lovely seaside town of Whitstable, famous for its oysters and annual Oyster Festival.
Experienced Amateur: Angela Gawn, Self-portrait
Angela Gawn lives on the outskirts of Old Buckenham village with her husband, a sculptor.
What Our Winner Said…
I couldn’t believe it when I heard I had won. I was shocked, surprised, delighted and honoured. My self portrait was a reflection of having to shield during lockdown for me personally and the importance of the face mask for my essential trips to my local hospital.
Chairman’s Category: Philip Cuttell, Lockdown
Philip Cuttell lives in North London.
What Our Winner Said:
Winning the Chair’s Art Prize in the King Lear Prizes has been a tremendous boost to me at a time when very little art is getting exhibited because of Covid. I firmly believe that being creative is a sound way of keeping mentally fit, and the prize scheme encouraged me to get painting in the depths of lockdown. My painting reflects that I think, but also with an undercurrent of humour. I hope Artemesia Gentileschi, on whose work the painting is loosely based, would have forgiven me…
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Beginner: Ken Calvert, Seasons of the Sea
“Congratulations to Ken Calvert - I liked the simple ‘folky’ tune which, combined with the lyrics, creates a mystical quality.”
Julian Lloyd Webber is a cellist and the former Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Ken Calvert lives with his wife Diana in South Herefordshire by the beautiful Malvern Hills after 20 years by the sea in North Devon, to be near family.
What Our Winner Said…
My wife Diana wrote the wonderful words of ‘Seasons of the Sea’ and I put the music to it. We feel over the moon about winning this prestigious competition! ‘Seasons of the Sea’ has been such an enjoyable collaboration and a great pleasure for me to perform it live to everyone.
We have lived for over half of our 55 years of married life by the sea in Cornwall and Devon and ‘Seasons of the Sea’ reminds us so much of those wonderful years with our lovely family. It somehow maintains our connections with the western ocean.
Experienced Amateur: Colin Billyard, Moonlight in Vermont
“The performance expertly conjures up the atmosphere of a moonlit night in Vermont. Nice, laid-back jazzy chords!”
Julian Lloyd Webber is a cellist and the former Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Colin Billyard lives with his wife Pamela, in Denmead, Hampshire, having previously lived and raised their two children near Petersfield in Hampshire. After retiring to Norfolk for seven years, they missed Hampshire and their grown-up children so returned eight years ago.
What Our Winner Said…
I was absolutely thrilled to be the winner in the Music - Experienced Amateur category of the King Lear Prizes! To make the shortlist of six was fantastic but to be chosen from thousands of entries is an honour indeed. My love of jazz, and particularly The Great American Songbook, was the inspiration for the song I chose, Moonlight in Vermont by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf and published in 1944, three years before I was born.
The King Lear Prizes is a fabulous opportunity and inspiration for older folk such as myself to improve our skills in our chosen creative discipline. Without the King Lear Prizes, my guitar would be sitting in a corner gathering dust!
POETRY
Our head judge was Mary Jean Chan, a Costa Book Award-winning poet, lecturer, editor and critic.
Beginner: Denise Rivers, Cancer Flower
Denise Rivers lives in Forres in the north east of Scotland, very near the Moray Firth.
What Our Winner Said…
I am absolutely thrilled to have won the Poetry - Beginner category of the King Lear Prizes. I am starting a Creative Writing Course soon and this win has given me much more confidence in my writing ability. Thank you! My poem Cancer Flower was inspired by own journey with cancer. Being able to write poetry helped a lot during treatment.
Experienced Amateur: Peter Lindley, The Cutting Room
REAL STORY
“Many thanks to all our entrants who shared such wonderfully written stories from their life. As we’ve known all along: when it comes to creativity, age doesn’t matter a jot!”
Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, actor, former MP and now Chancellor of the University of Chester.
Beginner: Jeannette Warren, Apple Blossom Time
Jeannette Warren was born in London and now lives in Norfolk.
What Our Winner Said…
I was born with the NHS in July 1948 and "Apple Blossom Time" recounts a small part of my long experience of it, both as a patient and as a carer. It forms part of an attempt to show its history through the experience of those who voted for it after the war and those who have benefited from it since, and in honour of this prize I've given one of the characters a great love of Shakespeare's plays, in particular King Lear.
Experienced Amateur: Martine MacCormack, The Lesson
Martine MacCormack has lived in Dartford, Kent, for over 40 years.
What Our Winner Said…
The King Lear Prizes was inspirational in making me put in writing an experience that happened when I was little but has always remained vivid in my memory. It was very cathartic, to re-visit it in this way.