Ashdown Forest's second annual poetry competition.

The winners have been announced

There were two categories:

· Teenagers (aged 13-18): Khudeeja Begum, Threaded Through the Quiet

· Adults (over 18): Vanessa Lampert, For the Other

The theme for this year was 'Connections,' and the competition was run in partnership with writers and poets Kathryn Aalto and Fiona Sampson, and The Ashdown Forest Foundation. The competition also received valuable support from The Royal Literary Fund.

Niamh Mahoney, Visitor Experience and Volunteer Development Manager at Ashdown Forest, said: "We would like to thank all those who participated in the competition and are proud to have fostered creativity and international engagement with the Forest and its conservation mission, evidenced in the 348 submissions received from across the globe.

"This historic and ecologically significant heathland continues to inspire both budding conservationists and creatives, and we hope it continues to do so for many generations to come."

Ashdown Forest, with its rare lowland heath, ancient woodland, and far-reaching views, has for centuries been a place where nature and imagination meet.

The judges were deeply impressed by the high standard and range of entries.

Kathryn Aalto said: “I was delighted to be asked to judge the Ashdown Forest’s poetry competition again this year and would like to offer my congratulations to the two worthy winners. What impressed me most was how differently people expressed what connection meant — from bonds between people and nature to those between memory and place, or even the intimate, unseen threads that tie us to each other.”

Fiona Sampson said: "It was a pleasure to be involved with the poetry competition as a representative of the Royal Literary Fund, and to help decide the two deserving winners."

In writing about Ashdown Forest, poets contribute not only to the literary tradition of this unique landscape but also to its living cultural ecology, reminding us that art and conservation can be intertwined forms of care.

Edward Kemp, Chief Executive of the Royal Literary Fund, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Ashdown on this poetry competition to help bring attention to some of the talented poets, both young and old, across the UK. The judges have done a fantastic job in selecting such deserving winners, and we pass on our congratulations to both Khudeeja Begum and Vanessa Lampert.”

Robin St. Clair Jones, Chair of The Ashdown Forest Foundation, said: “This year's competition theme, ‘Connections,’ truly resonated with all of us who volunteer to support Ashdown Forest. The Ashdown Forest Foundation is proud to support this growing event for the second year. The poems from both finalists particularly resonated with me, and it is wonderful that this very special place can inspire so many people to put pen to paper and create something so beautiful.”

Here are the two winning poems:

Threaded Through the Quiet

In the hush between the heather’s breath, I found my mother’s voice— not in words, but in the way the wind curled around the gorse, soft as a lullaby stitched into dusk. Ash trees lean like old confidants, their limbs etched with stories of hands held, hearts broken, and the quiet resilience of moss growing where no sun dares linger. I walk the forest not alone— but with the echo of every footstep that ever sought solace

here. The soil remembers. It cradles grief and joy alike, a palimpsest of pilgrimages. A fox watches from the bracken, amber eyes like ancient lanterns. We do not speak, but something passes between us— a knowing, a tether, a thread spun from silence. I am stitched to this place by invisible seams: the scent of pine, the hush of fern, the memory of a hand in mine long gone, yet never absent. Here, connection is not declared— it is felt. It is the breath that fogs the morning, the root that splits the stone, the poem that writes itself in the language of leaves.

For the Other

And then we were in the kitchen,

suddenly old, adult orphans, our hair

the colour of fog. This is the life we said

a bit tipsy and raised a glass of pinot

to the dog. We didn’t much mind

it was too late to learn the lindy-hop.

I wouldn’t go back, would you? I said,

and you shook your head, complicit.

But of course we’d go back. To the house

on Iffley Road. The gas fire and candles

burning recklessly in our yellow bedroom,

a chicken roasting in the oven, and

everything enough, by which I mean

if one of us was running a bath,

we were running it for the other.

For more information about this year’s judges or to read the poems, visit Poetry Competition 2025 | The Conservators of Ashdown Forest