Marvin Thompson (born ) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

writer living in Wales. His poem "The Fruit of the Spirit is Love (Galatians 5:22)" won the

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by UK-based The Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

2020, announced in March 2021.

Biography

Marvin Thompson was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n parents and now lives in

Torfaen Torfaen (; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Newport, Wales, Newport to t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Thompson's debut poetry collection ''Road Trip'' was published by

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. Poet Kwame Dawes has said: "Peepal Tree Press's position as the leading pu ...

in 2020. Described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as an "invigorating journey through complexities of black British family life", the collection was selected as one of '' The Telegraph's'' Poetry Books of the Year, and was nominated for the

Wales Book of the Year The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently ...

2021. In March 2021, Thompson won the

2020 with his poem "The Fruit of the Spirit is Love (Galatians 5:22)", dedicating his win to his children, his parents and "anyone who has felt discrimination pressing on their ribs; air being squeezed out of their lungs." The bible verse referenced reads "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith" in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

. Alongside Zoë Brigley, Thompson was appointed as joint editor of ''

Poetry Wales ''Poetry Wales'' is a triannual poetry magazine published in Bridgend, Wales. Founded by Meic Stephens and now published by Seren, it is edited by Zoë Brigley. Since its first publication in 1965, the magazine has built an international repu ...

'' magazine in August 2021. However, Thompson stepped down from the role three weeks later.

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Road Trip'' (2020,

; )

References

External links

Audio recording of Welsh translation of winning poemInterview: Marvin Thompson, National Poetry Competition winner
at

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Marvin Year of birth missing (living people) 1970s births Living people 21st-century British poets 21st-century British male writers Black British writers Welsh people of Jamaican descent People from Torfaen Writers from London