17th February 2010
West Dunbartonshire Schools have just joined in on the launch of a brand new poetry competition, launched to celebrate the life and work of the Glasgow artist Hannah Frank.
Executive Director for Education, Terry Lanagan has encouraged West Dunbartonshire School children to get involved. “I feel that children can benefit hugely from poetry. Poetry helps to develop both their language and creative skills. It can also be a lot of fun.”
Entrants, who will be divided into five categories depending on age, must write a poem of not more than 40 lines taking their inspiration from any one of Hannah’s distinctive, other-worldly black and white drawings. Group entries from schools are especially welcome.
Each person can enter up to three poems. The deadline is midnight 31 March 2010.
The competition has been organised by Hannah Frank’s niece, Fiona Frank, in conjunction with St Mungo’s Mirrorball Poets Network poet, William Bonar.
Fiona had the idea for the competition after St Mungo’s Mirrorball Poets’ Network gave a lifetime achievement award to Hannah Frank on the occasion of her 100th birthday, 23 August 2008. David Kinloch wrote the poem, ‘The Mocking Fairy’, based on Hannah’s drawing from 1931. [printed in full below]. David will judge the Hannah Frank poetry competition and the winners and runners-up, in four under-eighteen age group categories and one adult category, will receive a cash prize and a framed Hannah Frank print of their choice. In the under-18 age groups, the winners’ schools will also receive a framed Hannah Frank print.
Hannah Frank, Glasgow Artist, died in December 2008 at the age of 100. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow University, and exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute, and Royal Academy, throughout her 75 year artistic career. She received a Lifetime Achievement award from St Mungo's Mirrorball, the Glasgow Poets' Network, on her 100th birthday, and was the recipient, in June 2009, of the very first Posthumous Honorary Doctorate that Glasgow University has ever given, for services to art. This competition aims to introduce her work to a new audience.
The first 100 Scottish schools who express an interest by e-mailing hannahfrankpoetry@googlemail.com with their contact details will receive a free pack of Hannah Frank-related materials to help to inspire some excellent poetry from school children. The pack comprises copies of two Hannah Frank books and a Hannah Frank DVD with a combined worth of over £50.
Others can buy the pack at a special rate of £35 – but all of Hannah Frank’s distinctive black and white drawings can also be seen on the ‘gallery’ page of the website http://www.hannahfrank.org.uk
Fiona said: “The competition’s prizes will be presented on 23 August 2010, which would have been my aunt’s 102nd birthday. I know she would have approved of a poetry competition of this kind because she was inspired by poetry and literature herself throughout her 75 year artistic career – and she was a poet herself, as well as an artist.”
The launch took place on 18 December 2009, the date of the first anniversary of Hannah Frank’s death at the age of 100. Five children from Calderwood Lodge Jewish Primary School and six children from Pollokshields Primary School read out the poems they have already created, based on Hannah’s drawings. Mrs Wood, teacher at Pollokshields Primary School, said:
“I was actually amazed at what the children came up with. I think sometimes we underestimate children. They can see and come up with things deeper than what we expect of them.”
The competition launch was at Pollokshields Primary School, Glasgow, which is on the site of Hannah Frank’s old school, Albert Road Academy. Barbara Spevack, Hannah’s great-niece who is an actress, read extracts from Hannah's diaries from the 1920s which referred to art lessons taking place in the very room that the launch took place and where Hannah started her 75 year drawing career.
The Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, attended the competition launch. He said:
“The poems read out by the young people were a wonderful tribute to the life and work of Hannah. Hannah Frank was an inspiration to all of us and the competition is a fitting tribute to the contribution Hannah made to the arts world and beyond.”
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Entry to the competition for under-18s is free. Entry for adults (per poem) is £3. An adult entry includes a £3 gift voucher which can be redeemed for Hannah Frank prints and cards in the Hannah Frank online shop on the website http://www.hannahfrank.org.uk
