Congratulations to Paul Henry who won the English Language Poetry Category at Wales Book of the Year 2023 for his collection As If To Sing.
As If To Sing is Paul Henry’s eleventh collection. The power of song to sustain the human spirit resonates through the collection, which is rich in the musical lyricism admired by Paul’s readers and fellow poets. An essential addition to his compelling body of work, it is a deserved winner of this year’s Poetry Category award.
Wales Book of the Year is run by Literature Wales, and celebrates outstanding literary talent from Wales across many genres and in both English and Welsh. There are four categories in each language – Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction and Children & Young People, with one of the four category winners announced as the Overall Winner, and claiming the title Wales Book of the Year. This year the overall award went to Caryl Lewis for her novel Drift.
You can view the full list of winners from all categories in both language on the Literature Wales website.
![[ correspondence : another year ]
the grey static of the dashboard ignites into a ringtone
ignites into a w
oman’s voice pale-polite
as a white picket fence in the still of morning:
hello, this is a free call from ______
an incarcerated individual at louisiana state penitentiary,
this call is not pr
ivate & may be monitored,
you may start the conversation now
& the line ignites into song as you sing to me
happy birthday & because birth is death in reverse
i imag
ine blowing a candle out backwards, sucking
the orange talons into the prison of my lungs,
the w
ax congealing up the wick, the match lying
down in its box, the rush of our bodies diminishing
inside the bodies of our mothers](https://serenbooks.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/screenshot-2023-01-25-at-12.03.25.png)
![[ search ]
In the beginning the guard’s gloved hands
pat you down, searching for weapons,
his touch is weaponized, the muted duty
of his movements smooth along each of your arms.
Soon the guard’s touch is the only touch
from another
and you think of your mother
after bath time, the harbour of her chest
against yours, the rough-love of her towelling
you dry, reaching into all the nooks
and crannies, no cabbages behind the ears
she says. And yes, I guess searching the body
is another way of saying the body is a trove
of treasure and your touch a torch.](https://serenbooks.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/search-sammy-weaver.png)
