Year 10 student, Finn Kerby-Pinguet, won over the judge with his humourous take on writing and the current economy.

Finn Kerby-Pinguet's poem, 'Entering This Poem' stood out over hundreds of other poems submitted from around the world, to take away 3rd prize in this year's NZPS International Poetry Competition.

The judge, Ken Arkind, said the following about Finn's poem:

"Make no mistake about it, humour is one of the hardest things to do as a poet. Finn Kerby-Pinguet's 3rd place poem is hilarious, poignant, and highly relatable considering the current crisis with the cost of living. Perhaps it wasn't the author's intent, but all great comedy comes with a heaping spoonful of hard truths, and I found myself not only laughing but shaking my fist at what felt like its condemnation of late-stage capitalism. Sharp biting punchlines like, "this poem is an investment, and a poor one at that but the market is a bear, whatever the nft-compounding-equity that means", are so memorable I was quoting them long after first reading it."

Finn received a cash prize of $100, and his poem will appear in the 2022 New Zealand Poetry Society Anthology coming out later in the year. This is a fantastic result from one of our Writing for Publication module students, and we look forward to seeing more of Finn's poetry in national and international publications in the future!