A poetry competition organised by Loughborough University has highlighted the writing talent of students in schools across the East Midlands.

The poetry challenge, aimed at students aged 11-13, was to create a 20 line poem with the theme ‘remembrance’.  It was organised by English, Drama and Publishing at the University to coincide with National Poetry Day, held on 2 October.  

In overall first place was Joe Waite, a year seven student from Ibstock Community College, Ibstock.  His poem, entitled ‘Remembrance’ focused on Christmas and the need to remember people who might be on their own.  Runner up was John Tailby, a year eight student from Wreake Valley Academy, Syston.  His poem included the names of four men from Thrussington highlighted on the village war memorial.

Judges for the competition were Dr Sara Read, a Lecturer in English and Drama, Jenna Townend, a PhD student from English, Drama and Publishing and Wing Commander Gary Watkins, Commanding Officer of the Typhoon Squadron at Loughborough University.  Nearly 1000 entries were received and the judges enjoyed reading all the poems and had a tough time deciding the winners.  They commented:

“We were amazed at the scale and diversity of the entries.  It was particularly interesting to see that the subject of remembrance was interpreted in different ways and it was clear that considerable thought had gone into the submissions.  Congratulations to everyone who participated.”

The aim of the competition was to raise aspirations and attainment through English and promote the idea of studying English and Drama at higher education level. 

National Poetry Day is organised annually by the Forward Arts Foundation.  It has been held since 1994 and aims to engage interest in poetry through a range of events and activities.

As winner of the competition Joe wins tickets to see a show at the Curve Theatre, Leicester, who kindly donated the tickets for the winner.  He will also have his poem published in the University’s Community Newsletter, which is distributed to over 24,000 homes in the Loughborough area.  The overall runner up and each year group winners will receive vouchers.

Annie Ockelford, Schools’ Outreach Officer for English and Drama comments: “This competition has been hugely successful and we are delighted that so many students responded to our challenge to write poetry.  We very much hope that this has stimulated their interest in creative writing and that they will be motivated to take this forward through to higher education.”