International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine



The Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine was founded in 2009 by Donald Singer, a clinical professor, and poet and translator Michael Hulse. The founders 'wished to draw together national and international perspectives on three major historical and contemporary themes uniting the disciplines of poetry and medicine: medicine as inspiration for the writings of poets; effects of poetic creativity on the experience of illness by patients, their families, friends, and carers; and poetry as therapy.' There are two awards: one for UK health students and National Health Service-related professionals, including educators, researchers, and biomedical scientists, and a second one, the International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine, for an international open category for unpublished poems in English by any living poet.

2010
Founding judges were doctor and poet Dannie Abse, broadcaster James Naughtie and NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh. The inaugural 2010 awards were presented by the judges at a ceremony at an International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine at the University of Warwick on 10 April 2010. The winner of the first Open International prize was New Zealand poet C. K. Stead (his winning poem was Ischaemia) and for the first NHS prize nurse and educator Wendy French (her winning poem was it's about a man). Each winner was awarded £5,000. The inaugural Prize attracted national and international media interest including from Today (BBC Radio 4), BBC World Service, United States National Public Radio and The Independent. There were over 1600 entries from 31 countries for the 2010 Prize. The inaugural International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine and International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine were supported by the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine, the Warwick Institute of Advanced Study and the Wellcome Trust. Symposium themes included history of poetry, poetry as therapy, poetry as inspiration for professional poets, doctor poets and poetry and HIV/AIDS in South Africa. An anthology of the 46 winning and commended poems in the Open International and United Kingdom NHS categories has been published.

2010 Winners
Open International Awards:
 * 1st Prize: C. K. Stead (Christchurch, New Zealand) - Ischaemia
 * 2nd Prize: Siân Hughes (Banbury, England) - Treatments
 * 3rd Prize: Pauline Stainer (Hadleigh, Suffolk, England) - Insight

NHS Awards:
 * 1st Prize: Wendy French (London, England) - It's about a man
 * 2nd Prize: Alex Josephy (London, England) - The corridor
 * 3rd Prize: Edward Picot (Kent, England) - Time to get ready

2011
The judges for the 2011 Prize were Professor Steve Field CBE, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners 2007-2010, First Welsh National Poet Gwyneth Lewis and journalist, BBC broadcaster and author Mark Lawson. There were around 1500 entries from 23 countries for the 2011 Prize. The 40 Commendations in the 2011 Hippocrates Prize were awarded to entries from Canada (1), England (29), New Zealand (1), Scotland (2) and the USA (7). The awards for the 2011 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine  were introduced by judge Mark Lawson on 7 May 2011, with NHS awards introduced and presented by Professor Steve Field CBE and the Open awards introduced and presented by Gwyneth Lewis at a 2nd International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine. The 2011 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine was supported by the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine, HTI Heads Teachers and Industry and the Cardiovascular Research Trust. An anthology of the 46 winning and commended poems in the Open and NHS categories was published on 7th May 2011.

2011 Winners
Open International Awards:
 * 1st Prize: Michael Henry (Cheltenham, England) - The Patella Hammer
 * 2nd Prize: Cheryl Moskowitz (London, England) - Correspondence with the Care Home
 * 3rd Prize: Johanna Emeney (Albany, New Zealand) - Radiologist's Report

NHS Awards:
 * 1st Prize: Paula Cunningham (Belfast, N Ireland) - The Chief Radiographer Considers
 * 2nd Prize: Wendy French (London, England) - The Doctor's Wife
 * 3rd Prize: Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood (Cambridge, England) - Inappropriate ADH

2012
The judges for the 2012 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine include American poet and critic Marilyn Hacker and Fellow of the Royal Society Professor Rod Flower. Marilyn Hacker is Professor of English at the City College of New York. Her book of poetry Presentation Piece (1974) won the National Book Award. In 2009, she won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation for King of a Hundred Horsemen by Marie Étienne. In 2010, she received the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry. Rod Flower is Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology at the WIlliam Harvey Research Institute in London. His main scientific research interests concern inflammation and anti-inflammatory drug mechanisms. He was formerly President of the British Pharmacological Society and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Entries for the 2012 Hippocrates Prize will open on 1st June 2011. The closing date will be 12 midnight GMT on 31st January 2012. Awards for the 2012 Hippocrates Prize will be announced at the Wellcome Collection in London on 12th May 2012 at the 3rd International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine.

Friends of the Hippocrates Prize
The Friends of the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine are past and present judges: Dannie Abse, James Naughtie, Sir Bruce Keogh, Mark Lawson, Gwyneth Lewis and Professor Steve Field CBE.

International Hippocrates Research Forum for Poetry and Medicine
The 2010 and 2011 International Symposia on Poetry and Medicine and Hippocrates Awards revealed great interest among the UK and international academic community in research perspectives on poetry and medicine. The Hippocrates Prize organizers therefore in 2011 founded the International Hippocrates Research Forum for Poetry and Medicine aimed at UK and international academics, poets, health professionals and funders who wish to engage with researchers on poetry and medicine, find out more about research on poetry and medicine, to contribute to or attend academic events on poetry and medicine, and to make contact with others active in or interested in developing research in this area.

Hippocrates logo
The logo for the Hippocrates Prize, Research Forum and related activities, including publications, is based on original artwork commissioned from Emma Singer.