What Is This All About ?

The writers gathered here have adopted one of the 48 lions that appeared in "The Lions Of Lyon" series on the writing blog Shameless Words. By adopting a lion, the writers have become a member of this new writing circle. The lions have been posted in the sidebars of the writers' individual blogs, accompanied by a poem or piece of prose. Of course, it is hoped that the strength, luck and prestige of these mighty beasts will rub off on their owners! (Keep scrolling down to see the full listings of all members and their lions).

And The Winners Are ...

 



After much deliberation and number crunching, the jury members have reached their verdicts. The Members' Choice votes have also proved interesting. It has to be said that the votes were close and many found it difficult to reach a decision. Every single person in the contest got votes in the members' choice categories and 32 out of 48 members of the circle cast a ballot. As always, someone has to win! So, without further ado, here are the results. Congratulations to the winners! Details about who was on the jury are published below the results.



THE RESULTS



* * * * * Jury Prizes * * * * *



Best Poems/Prose Pieces:


Jury Prize 1st Place (€20 Book voucher): Roberta, at TURN THE PAGE.

Blue

I named you Blue - My Blue
and you were sensitive and kind

You named me Yellow, Your Yellow
and we shared a sort of mind

We shared stories
..and a life

Until it had to end
..but you are my Blue

My soul mate
my confidant and friend


Jury Prize 2nd Place (€15 Book voucher): Kay, at AS IT HAPPENS.

kauri

From darkened depths
you lift your heavy head to gather
what grassland-sun can be found
where trees lift branches
to granite mountains.
Silver water crashes.
You merge into the land
as if you never were.
Listen to the wind.
Hear the kauri roar.


Jury prize 3rd Place (€10 Book voucher): Apprentice, at MY GAP YEAR.

a lacquered lion stalked
a ridged roof of terracotta tiles
till lightening struck and he leapt down
to pad past pagodas, tip-toe through the tea
house and out through the moongate - off to seek a soulmate
in far away lands still red in tooth and claw


Jury Prize 4th Place (€5 Book voucher): Sognatrice, at BLEEDING ESPRESSO.

You never believe me,
but fine.

He stopped,
squished his nose against the glass,
blinked,
pulled back,
shook his mane,
and strutted away,
leaving me to wonder how his heart
ended up on his sleeve.

Oh yeah?

Did to.

Then how do you explain that nose-shaped smear?



Jury Prize 5th Place (€5 Book voucher): KGT, at WHEN I WAX.

This anti-Aslan
his eyes and heart of darkness
roaming the voodoo veldt
of global capital
and trade
will not
lie down
with lambs
yet he sees
with eyes
of angels
into the deepest
anarchic
abyss
tail stretching back to Africa
whiskers
sensing
the alchemy
of order
and myth.



Best Looking Lions:


Jury Prize 1st Place (Badge for blog): Nin, at A VIRTUAL HOBBY STORE & COFFEE SHOP .


Jury Prize 2nd Place (Badge for blog): Caradoc, at KEEPER OF THE SNAILS.


Jury Prize 3rd Place (Badge for blog): Odin, at A STORY A DAY.


Jury Prize 4th Place (Badge for blog): Bucephalus, at DOORS LEFT OPEN.


Jury Prize 5th Place (Badge for blog): Lucidus Keen, at ONCE IN A BLUE MUSE.





* * * * *Members' Choice Awards* * * * *



Poems/Prose Pieces:


Members' Choice 1st Place (€10 Book voucher): Kay, at AS IT HAPPENS.

kauri

From darkened depths
you lift your heavy head to gather
what grassland-sun can be found
where trees lift branches
to granite mountains.
Silver water crashes.
You merge into the land
as if you never were.
Listen to the wind.
Hear the kauri roar.



Members' Choice 2nd Place (€5 Book voucher): Apprentice, at MY GAP YEAR.

a lacquered lion stalked
a ridged roof of terracotta tiles
till lightening struck and he leapt down
to pad past pagodas, tip-toe through the tea
house and out through the moongate - off to seek a soulmate
in far away lands still red in tooth and claw



Members' Choice 3rd Place (€5 Book voucher): Vesper, at CHICK WITH A QUILL.


Lost Babylon

He leaped at me
from the faded tiles of
Ishtar's procession.
His claws sank deep
into my flesh,
the dust of all illusions upon us.
"What seek you?" he rumbled. "The brilliance
is gone,
the gold is ashes."
"One named Alexander," I said.
"He was once a god."


Members' Choice 4th Place (Badge for blog ): Sognatrice, at BLEEDING ESPRESSO.

You never believe me,
but fine.

He stopped,
squished his nose against the glass,
blinked,
pulled back,
shook his mane,
and strutted away,
leaving me to wonder how his heart
ended up on his sleeve.

Oh yeah?

Did to.

Then how do you explain that nose-shaped smear?


Members' Choice 5th Place (Badge for blog): LMN, at FAILED PAINTER.

Hirsuit.

Expecting the odd chin whisker,
Half-hoping for a beguiling Van Dyke.
But a mane?
The hackamore failed to curb this new grey restlessness,
yet another gift of menopause to the black and white of her Jesuit vista.
The saddle of domesticity chaffed.
Clearing her throat, she tentatively roared.



Best Looking Lions:


Members' Choice 1st Place (Badge for blog): Viaggiatore, at FROM THE SHORES OF INTROSPECT&RETROSPECT.


Members' Choice 2nd Place (Badge for blog): Caradoc, at KEEPER OF THE SNAILS


Members' Choice 3rd Place (Badge for blog): Vermillion, at MY GAP YEAR.


Members' Choice 4th Place (Badge for blog): Homer, at MELONEY LEMON.


Members' Choice 5th Place (Badge for blog): Zaccharias, at UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.




Congratulations to all the winners! ... and to those who won in more than one category, double congratulations!!

If you're visiting this site, and want to read more poems and lions, keep scrolling down to see the individual listings for each of the 48 members of the writing circle.

The book vouchers will be distributed in the week starting July 23. Could winners receiving vouchers please send their email addresses to: seak@caramail.com and tell me which Amazon site you would like to use.

The badges for the winners' blogs are published below - the image can be copied and pasted to the sidebars of members' own blogs. (Keep scrolling down).

Please note that I am away in Italy for a week from this Saturday (July 14), so I won't be able to respond to any questions until I get back.


THE MEMBERS OF THE JURY


IAN AYRES
Ian is an American poet, writer and filmmaker originally from California. He is also the founder and editor of the international anthology series Van Gogh's Ear: Best World Poetry & Prose. (Click HERE to see website). The international anthology series is based in Paris and published in conjunction with Allen Ginsberg's Committee on Poetry in New York City. Ian says: "Since its début in 2002, Van Gogh's Ear has gained considerable acclaim for its eclecticism and for publishing such legends as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Yoko Ono, Tony Curtis, Xaviera Hollander, Charles Manson, and a great many more renowned poets, novelists, political activists and never-before-heard voices from every walk of life in all parts of the world. Van Gogh's Ear is a respected anthology distributed by major distributors in the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa and Australia." Ian's latest film is a documentary titled A Glimpse Of Heaven (French Connection Films), about the American Church in Paris. His latest book, Private Parts (French Connection Press), is available through Baker & Taylor, Small Press Distribution, and Amazon.com. Ian is currently editing his documentary film, Explorers Of The Mind, about the creative process in poets and writers.

RORY MULHOLLAND
Rory is a Paris-based literary translator and a journalist with the French news agency AFP (Agence France Presse). He has translated several novels into English from French and German, including the titles Strange Ways and Breathe. He has also written a book on his experience as a reporter in Iraq: Camp Britney, Tikrit: The Genteel Art of War Reporting. The blurb for this book reads: "December 13, 2003 - American soldiers pull Saddam Hussein out of a hole in the ground near his hometown of Tikrit. The next day the world's media fly in to inspect the orifice and hear how the Ace of Spades was captured. Then they fly out again. But a handful of reporters get left behind in the dictator's palace. Camp Britney, Tikrit, is a record of their struggle to pluck stories from a post-Saddam, post-news limbo. Rory Mulholland's journal depicts the parallel universe of under-employed journalists 'embedded' with the US Army's Fourth Infantry Division, and lifts the lid (a bit) on the workings of the international news media." Rory has also worked as a radio journalist and his feature articles have been published in some of the world's leading newspapers. He studied German and French literature at University College, Dublin.

RICHARD ELLIOTT
Richard is a writer and journalist who works in Switzerland for an international organisation. He used to live and work in Lyon, France, the city where "The Lions of Lyon" were born. For seven years he wrote and presented stories on the cultural and arts magazine Le Mag on the pan-European television station EuroNews. This job gave him the chance to report on many mainstream and "substream" art and literary events. Richard is also keen on creative writing and has produced various pieces of work, including three radio plays and a theatre play. He says: "Despite the name and the flags, the lion has been overlooked for far too long as the emblem of France’s second city. Thank you for setting the record straight in word and deed."


(Please note that attempts were made to have a gender balance when it came to the judging, but for various reasons the women lined up for the jury ended up not being able to meet the commitments).


BADGES FOR THE WINNERS' BLOGS.

These are the badges that winners can place on their blogs, in a post or in their sidebars. Scroll down to find yours! Click on the photo to see an optimised version of the image and then save it to your computer. (You can use the right click on the mouse to save images).
If anyone prefers to have the HTML code, I can send that by email. In new blogger, for example, images are automatically reduced to the right size when you add pictures to your sidebars. If your blog doesn't have this function, you may need to reduce the size of the badge. If you don't know how to do this, ask someone who does ... or I can send you a reduced version of your badge. Congratulations again!






















It's been great hosting this contest and I hope the rest of you had some fun as well. After the holidays (July and August for me) I would like to nut out another writing project for the circle. A few people have suggested a joint short story, with each paragraph being written by a different member. Does that grab you? Let me know. If anyone else has a brilliant idea, let me know either in the comments section or by email: seak@caramail.com

Don't forget: let your lion roar for your writing! Let his power and prestige shine over you. A roar a day also keeps the writer's block at bay!

18 comments:

Thy said...

WHOO! CONGRATS TO EVERYONE!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all winners! Well done to all the rest of the pride! It's been a pleasure getting involved here!

Hope that all of us will continue to uphold the circle's pride with our works!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all the winners...!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for organising it all, Seamus. It was good fun! Thanks to the judges.

And of course, huge congratulations to all the winners - and congratulations to all those who took part!

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Just found out from Sognatrice & Leonardo, thank you so much! And..

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

What a wonderful way to begin the circle. Viaggiatore is humbled and excited, thank you!
Now we're off to visit some of the other winning members of the pride to congratulate them.

Best to all, we both look forward to working with each and every one of you!

Viaggiatore and Scarlett
From the Shores of Introspect and Retrospect

Dewey said...

Congratulations, winners! And thanks to the judges and Seamus for their work!

Kay Cooke said...

Thanks so much to everyone - esp you Seamus for organising the contest - what a lot of work!!! You truly have the heart of a lion.

S. Kearney said...

Thanks everyone and congrats again to the winners. You're all lion hearts! I'm off now to Italy for a week. Keep the cages clean while I'm away! The book vouchers will be distributed when I'm back on the 23rd! :)

Rob Kistner said...

Congratulations to all who won something! ;) You should all be pleased.

Now that our SLWC’s competitive hunger has been satisfied — I hope we are able to embrace some cooperative possibilities of this group; such as, pursuing the creation a SLWC ’serial’ story.

I posted my suggestions for how that might work several weeks ago on this blog.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all the winners! It's been fun to meet and get to know you lions and lion owners.

Andi said...

I would like to know where the lion statues are actually located. :-)

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Butterfly,

I'd also like to know where they are, next time I'm in France, I would make a special trip to Lyon to go visit Viaggiatore and maybe get a couple of photos with him.

Oh yes.

Great request.

Scarlett

Roberta said...

Holy Lion!! I won?
Congratulations to all the winners! Congratulations to all of the writers, for in actually putting something down in print, we are all winners!

(I can not believe that I have been so honored! Wait till I tell Blue!)

THANK YOU!!!!

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Congratulations to all winners! And a big ROAR from Roary!

~~~ Bonnie and Roary ^..^

Andi said...

It is wonderful that all of us got some sort of vote in the Member's Choice categories. :-)

Roary Lyon said...

All of you are invited to visit my lion's den, The Literary Lion of Lyon. My mate Sophia has delivered our first cubs. Yes, twins!

Roary ^..^ we have two ^..^

Unknown said...

A big whoo hoo to all the winners from rainy Ireland -well done and I have to say that I'd agree with those Jury prizes!!!

Meloney Lemon said...

Thanks everybody for my 4th for best lookin' lion badge. But....er
shouldn't the award go to the actual artist that created the lion?