Poetic triumph for health lecturer

HEALTH lecturer and poet Dr Michael Leach recently won an award in a Melbourne writing competition.

The competition, run by Minds Shine Bright, was open to international poets, with Leach named a joint winner in the poetry category for his piece Emergence of Voice.

The poem recounts Leach’s life, focusing on his shyness as a child and eventually gaining confidence, which was the theme of the competition.

He said he was pleasantly surprised to win his category and proud of one judge’s comments about his work.

“She said the winning poems made her cry with the weight of the emotional resonance. It was quite amazing to hear that, my writing having that effect,” he said.

“The poem is about my own experiences of growing up as a very shy kid and gradually becoming more confident and finding my own voice over time. It’s a good news story and hopefully it can inspire others.”

Leach said he views confidence as “positive psychology” and something he has gained through both his role as a lecturer but also publicly performing poetry.

“My poem has a refrain throughout, the words ‘I’ve always been shy’,” he said. “I repeat that throughout memories and moments where I have and haven’t been confident.”

Leach said he also uses poetry with his Monash University School of Rural Health students, as it can be a way of “distilling down the essence of experiences.”

The award-winning poet plans to release his first full collection of poems titled Natural Philosophies in November.