Winners 2009 : Commended : Charlotte Turner

Summer School 2012

The 8th Tower Poetry Summer School for young poets aged 18-23 will be held in Christ Church, Oxford from 28-31 August 2012. The tutors will be Alan Gillis (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Kevin Young (Emory University, Atlanta, USA).

Find out more >

Poetry Matters

Poetry Matters is an exciting on-line poetry magazine which provides a fresh, dynamic perspective on poetry issues through a mix of news, reviews and comment.

Charlotte Turner

Varndean College, Brighton, Sussex

Doubt

Doubt /daut/ n. & v. 1 It can spawn a hundred thoughts
all of which the unpleasant sort. That kind that waits
until 3am. And will not let you sleep again. 2 One of
the only known niggling things. {Derived} from the same
root that from, fear springs. 3 Often seen, now and
again, after the sordid deals of desperate men. Who
choose the wrong time to hesitate. Doubt then turns
up far too late. 4 As a weakness it can be construed. A
vulnerable time to change your mood. 5 In fact the
history of the world laments. All the doubtful days
been spent. 6 Indeed, it is a common notion, for better
health, to place devotion. Onto something far less
unpleasant. That can be dealt with in the present. 6a
Otherwise it’s just ‘wait and see’. For we can predict
nothing in certainty. 7 So surely trying is just futile.
(For reference SEE something that is worthwhile.)

About Tower Poetry

Tower Poetry exists to encourage and challenge everyone who reads or writes poetry. Funded by a generous bequest to Christ Church, Oxford, by the late Christopher Tower, the aims of Tower Poetry are clear: to stimulate an enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. Creative writing should be a central element in literary education, and learning about writing poetry can help students to think about ways of reading poetry.

Publications

The Twelve:

Poems from the 7th Tower Poetry Summer School 2010
Edited by Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott
The Twelve contains 56 poems from the 12 young poets who attended the Summer School.