Maria Isakova Bennett, 2018 Competition Adjudicator, "What Am I Looking For?"

​I’d say firstly, that I will be very open to a range of poetry, from short, precise, lyrical work, to poems that tell a story, explore an incident or character.
I think that it is important to write in your own way about what matters to you because your passion will come through. I like to sense that the poem feels honest, that it holds my attention, and that something in it remains after I’ve put the poem away. Imagery attracts me, but sound is very important and I will read your poem out loud to enjoy the aural effect. 
Good luck!  I very much look forward to reading your poems.

Maria Isakova Bennett lives in Liverpool, graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in December 2012, and since then has been widely published in the UK, US, and Ireland. She was highly commended in the Gregory O'Donoghue Poetry Competition, shortlisted in the Munster Literature Chapbook Competition and awarded the first prize in the Ver Open Competition. Maria is a teacher, writer and artist.