The British Museum’s exhibition ‘Germany – Memories of a Nation’ focuses on iconic objects reflecting German history. Each of these objects tells a story. We called on you to bring this story to life and give it poetic form: We called on you to write a ‘DINGGEDICHT’ –  a ‘thing poem’ or in other words a poem based on an object!

The response we received from across the UK and beyond was superb. Whilst it was a great pleasure for the jury to read the poems, it was much harder to choose the few winning entries. We would like to thank everyone who took part for their efforts and hope it was as insightful and joyful an experience for them as for the jury.

Prize-giving at the British Museum

The prize giving and readings took place in the West Clore Foyer at the British Museum between 18:50 and 19.20 on Friday, 12 December. Following this event, Emeritus Professor Martin Swales (University College London) gave a talk on German literature’s fascination with objects from folk tales to ‘Dinggedichte’ and Berlin novelist Annett Gröschner read a new ‘Dingtext’ from her current work in progress.