Parisa Thepmankorn from Rockaway, New Jersey received the £500 2015 Hippocrates Young Poet Prize for ‘Intraocular Pressure’. The other shortlisted poets were Daniella Cugini from Warwick in England for ‘the surgeon dissects his lover’ and US poets Alex Greenberg from New York City for ‘Dusting’ and Alexandra Spensley from Ohio for ‘Geography of a Bone’. 

Parisa said: “I wrote the poem ‘Intraocular Pressure’ after a visit to the optometrist revealed that my eyes’ intraocular pressures were on the higher side of “normal”. Inspired by the idea of certain diseases as time bombs, my poem is the result of both my personal fears and my attempt to extrapolate the future implications and physical effects of the condition if it worsened.” 

The other shortlisted young poets were US poets Alex Greenberg from New York City for Dusting and Alexandra Spensley from Ohio for Geography of a Bone.

Judge Simon Rae said “Judging the entries for the Young Poets Award has been both exciting and moving. The standard has been high, with both winners and commended poets producing strong, unflinching poems which will remain long in the memory.”