The final poems of tragic young driver


21 December 2007 11:00

The poems of a young man killed in a road crash on the way to his grandfather's funeral have been published in a new anthology.

Henry Wingate, 24, died when his Renault Clio came off the road and ended up on its roof on the B1077 near Ashbocking in Suffolk last Wednesday.

Mr Wingate. Originally from Laxfield in Suffolk, had been living in Norwich where he had just finished a creative writing course at the UEA.

While there he had contributed two poems to a new anthology and a copy of a new poetry anthology with two of his poems has just been published.

The anthology, called Not Expecting Fish, is a collection of work by students who attended a creative writing diploma course at UEA last year, and was given its official launch in Norwich on Monday December 10.

The anthology's editor Charles Christian said: “Henry's poetry was very interesting. He was a great writer. I was on the course with him for the year and found him to be very bright and astute.

“This is really awful situation. We were all on a high from the publication of our work and then 48 hours later we hear the youngest person on the course has died.

“Henry was level-headed with lots of thoughts and ideas.

“A number of contributors met earlier this week and we agreed that, given the interest in Henry's work being expressed by friends and relatives, it would be appropriate to draw wider attention to the collection, both as a memorial to Henry and to highlight what a potentially great talent had been lost in such a tragic accident.”

Mr Wingate was on the way to the funeral of his grandfather Tomas Bartlett who had died at the age of 84.

The crash also claimed the life of one of Mr Wingate's passengers, his brother's 19-year-old girlfriend Kirsten Duffus from Burgate in Diss. Mr Wingate's brother Max and another teenage girl who were also in the car escaped serious injury. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

Mr Wingate's funeral will be held at Laxfield Church next Friday and his family are asking for donations to Amnesty International which can be sent c/o Tony Brown's Funeral Services, Saxmundham IP17 1EH.

Not Expecting Fish is published by Gatehouse Press in association with Ink Sweat & Tears and is available on Amazon, by mail order from Ink Sweat & Tears and from Kultureshock in Blyburgate, Beccles at £3.50.

Night Came In by Henry Wingate

Night came in so fast

accompanied by damp cuffs,

tight throats and fatigue.

But our breath was call and response.

Rebounding verse and chorus from lung to lung.

In strained second hand streetlight

I saw the pattern at the foot of our bed,

reassembled its components,

and made a threat

to outline our security.

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