We are delighted to confirm the release of the winning entry of the 2022 Three Trees Portfolio Award.
How it will happen by Lisa Blackwell was chosen from ten shortlisted entries for its compelling and memorable set of mainly prose poems that explore various formative experiences across several years.
Discussing the poems, guest editor, Roy Marshall, described how the form amplified the intensity of the narrative voice. A collection of emotionally engaging work, giving a sense of deeply felt experience, at various times shocking, brutal, darkly- funny and tender.
A book for our times – don’t miss out.
How it will happen by Lisa Blackwell – Maytree Press
Turquoise swimsuit You are almost thirteen years old. You are in the back garden in your new turquoise swimsuit, the material of which stretches and ripples in a new way. The sun flashes on the ripples of your father’s pond. Self-built. The koi carps’ startled lips gape at the surface. Their ghostly orange and white forms blurred beneath. Your father says: Oh that’s unusual. He pinches the material of your swimsuit and rolls it between his thumb and index finger. All of a sudden, he has the electric-shock realisation that you, with your new woman body, are in the swimsuit. He becomes self-conscious and slightly embarrassed and retreats into the house. Mumbling something. You laugh at him. You feel the power of your body but also its betrayal. This is not the body to shinny up a tree. Or to give your brother a dead arm. You begin to wonder if this body is more trouble than it’s worth.
