Budding young writers from Saint Gregory’s Catholic College in Bath have been successful in this year’s Live Canon Children’s Poetry Competition winning. Not only did they receive the school’s prize for an outstanding set of entries, but also achieved five shortlisted spots and one Runner Up Prize in the Year 7-9 category.
Poems by Emil, Ella, Alex, Kaci, Haydn and Sid have been published in the Live Canon 2018 Poetry Anthology, and will also feature in a school-produced anthology to celebrate the work carried out under the guidance of this year’s Writer in Residence, Josephine Corcoran (pictured above with prize winners Sid and Emil).
As a published poet, playwright and short story writer, Josephine has been working as Writer in Residence at St Gregory’s since September, working alongside teachers and students to develop a greater understanding and love of the written word. Throughout the year, students have been engaged in a range of individual and small group workshops to explore the world of poetry and creative writing, using a variety of topics and themes to inspire and enliven their work.
The prize giving ceremony held at The Greenwich Theatre, London on Saturday 28 April provided an opportunity for Saint Gregory’s students to see members of the Live Canon Theatre Ensemble perform a selection of the winning poems.
With 100 poems in the book, performing actors limited their performances to a winner and two runners up in each age category. Emil from St Gregory’s, who was a runner-up in the Years 7- 9 category, watched as her poem, ‘Kerala’, was read by performer, Leon Scott.
Judges said of the poetry entries, “The poetry we received was of an outstanding standard. All 100 young poets on the shortlist will have their poems published in our 2018 anthology and we warmly congratulate them all.”
Josephine Corcoran added, “My time at St Gregory’s has whizzed by and has been extremely rewarding. We have read and written poetry, crime fiction, short stories and radio drama, and talked about what we liked, or didn’t. It’s been a wonderful experience, and the year is not over yet! We are currently working on an anthology of work by all of the young people involved this year and, with over 100 pieces of work included, it’s going to be a great way of celebrating their efforts and recognising their new-found talents.”
Acting Headteacher, Mr Kevin McDermott, said, “Josephine has been an inspiration to our students, providing them with an enriched learning experience like no other. It has been wonderful to watch our students grow in confidence with their creative writing and a real privilege to have been invited to the Live Canon to see their success on stage.”
The winners have been invited to read their poems on the Brunel Square Stage in Bath on Saturday 19 May from 12.15pm – 12.45pm as part of this year’s Bath Festival programme.