Winchester Poetry Festival has announced the winner of its inaugural poetry competition at a special ceremony during the Festival.

First prize went to Eve Ellis, an American-born Londoner, who is teaches English at the American School in London. Her poem, Haint, impressed the judge, the distinguished poet Mimi Khalvati, “for its music, its poignancy, its haunting open ending.”

Second prize went to Christopher James for his poem Endgame. Third prize was won by Catherine Edmunds for her poem How to Win at King’s Cross.

The competition attracted nearly 1,500 entries from more than 600 poets in 28 different countries – and exceeded all expectations.

The final decisions were not easy, according to Mimi Khalvati, who read every poem herself. She admitted to nearly having a heart attack when they arrived in a huge box.

“I resolved to read 100 poems a day for 15 days, to keep myself fresh and avoid missing any gems. Winners sometimes jump out at you but not in this case. In the end, throwing up my hands, I asked myself: well, which do I love the best?

“The quality of the winning and commended poems in the first Winchester Poetry Prize was stunning – and ample justification for making this an annual event,” said Winchester Poetry Festival chairman Stephen Boyce.

The second Winchester Poetry Festival, a biennial event, has proved that poetry plays an important part in people’s lives.

More than 1,500 tickets were sold, with many sell-out events and an increase of 15% over last year.

The festival, which took place across three days, featured some of the nation’s best-loved poets including Simon Armitage, Roger McGough and Sinead Morrissey, as well as exciting new talent.

Mr Boyce said: “We are delighted to have brought to Winchester 40 poets and speakers of international distinction. And we’re equally thrilled that audiences once again responded with such enthusiasm and evident delight.”

Winning poems from the inaugural Winchester Poetry Prize have been published by Winchester Poetry Festival in an anthology Salt on the Coals, available from the Festival’s new online shop: http://www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org/shop

Judge’s comments First prize: Haint by Eve Ellis. “I loved Haint for its strangeness and familiarity, its use of the Appalachian dialect with its echoes of Elizabethan English or perhaps Scots-Irish dialect brought to Appalachia by early settlers; I loved it for its music, its poignancy, its haunting open ending. A poem like a snowflake. Very different, but also magical.”

Second prize: Endgame by Christopher James. “Plays with great confidence on the extended metaphor of the chessboard without strain or contrivance and ends on a startling last line which lifts the whole poem on to a new plane”

Third prize: How to win at King’s Cross, by Catherine Edmunds. “I can’t bear King’s Cross. But to go there in this poem which accurately conveys what you could call a King’s Cross state of mind was gratifying: the momentum, confusion, emotional baggage, the intensity of purpose and the pain all wonderfully sustained, controlled and finally released.”