A South Oxfordshire writer has been recognised in a prestigious literary prize.

Vanessa Lampert, from Wallingford, was one of just ten writers highly commended in this year’s Bridport Prize poetry competition, for her poem ‘Curations’.

The poem was selected from over 5,300 entries by poetry judge Daljit Nagra, who said: “Judging a poetry competition feels a communal, a social and a moral act, where we are at our best and ready to receive.”

He labelled the entry 'a heart-breaking and vividly sustained poem'.

Vanessa Lampert is a second year student on the Poetry School London’s M.A. programme. She works as an acupuncturist and likes to walk - especially on coastal paths - knit and 'often thinks about wild swimming'.

The Bridport Prize based in Bridport, Dorset, is one of the most prestigious open writing competitions in the English language.

Established in 1973, the competition attracts entries from authors from across the globe.

The Prize is known for being a literary stepping-stone for writers who submit work that has previously not been published.

An anthology of this year’s winning entries, including Vanessa’s poem, is available from the Bridport Prize website at bridportprize.org.uk