A New Young Poet Laureate for Warwicshire for 2023/24
On the 4th November 2023 shortlisted young poets gathered together to enjoy a workshop led by Emilie Lauren-Jones, before being interviewed by a panel of judges. The young people then performed their work before the judges went off into their judges' huddle to decide on a winner.
Last year's Young Poet Laureate, Emily Hung, was on the judging panel and also shared some of her outstanding poetry. She was heard to say that being the laureate had been 'the best year of her life'!
After much deliberation and debate the new laureate was announced. A huge congratulations to May Vaughan, a pupil from Stratford Girls' Grammar School, who will be the Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate for 2023/24. May will be mentored by Emilie Lauren Jones (former poet laureate for Coventry).
What the library staff said:
"This was a fantastic day with 5 very talented shortlisted candidates. Emilie Lauren-Jones and Emma Purshouse were invaluable as judges with their experience and expertise. Emilie-Lauren Jones was amazing with the young people in the workshop, as well as talking to the audience on the stage and performing her poetry."
Mentoring and Support for Young Laureate
As part of the package of support for the young poet laureate of Warwickshire for 2022/23, Emily Hunt as been receiving mentoring from expereienced poet Brenda Read-Brown. Poetry and Loan see this as a fantastic way to support young poets to develop their work. Emily received 6 sessions and had this to say about the experience:
"My time being mentored by Brenda has been absolutely fantastic, every session being very helpful and very fun. I’ve loved every moment of our sessions, leaving each one having learnt something new. Brenda has helped me build my confidence in performance, improve my skills all-round as a writer and has also introduced me to some new styles of poetry. I have not only gained confidence and new skills from my mentoring sessions, but also a wonderful friendship. I really look forward to our conversations and we always have a good laugh. Brenda is an incredible person and poet, I feel privileged to have been mentored by her. She has been a real highlight of my laureateship!"
New Young Poet Laureate for Warwickshire 2022/23
Emily Hunt from Kineton High School was crowned Warwickshire's Young Poet Laureate following a selection day at Rugby Library in November. Four high calibre candidates took part in a workshop with award-winning 'Poetry on Loan' poet Steve Pottinger. Steve shared creative tips and advice about how to successfully deliver poetry performances. The candidates then each took part in interviews and performed two of their own poems in front of the judging panel. The also shared their ideas about how they would make the Young Poet Laureate role their own if the were to get the position.
Outgoing Young Poet Laureate Shares their Experiences of the Role
“Becoming the 2021/2022 Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate was a great privilege. It’s kept me very busy over the past year, but I have enjoyed every moment of it.
Over the course of my term, I have been performing my poetry in a variety of local venues, such as libraries, a primary school and the Temperance art café in Leamington, where I took part in two Scriptstuff open mic nights. No matter how many times I performed, I always felt a little bit nervous before the performance – and yet, without fail, it would all dissipate as soon as I began speaking. I can attribute that to the amazing and supportive community that has been built around these places in Warwickshire, who always make me feel at home whether I'm a returning or first-time guest.
On a few occasions, I have been commissioned to write a poem. This was an exciting challenge for me, requiring me to take someone else’s ideas or requests and somehow make it my own. To help me along the way, I had my mentor, experienced poet and performer Jas Gardosi, who was always happy to give me tips to improve on both my performance and my writing. Although we both had busy schedules, we managed to make time for a few sessions last year, each one a deep and valuable conversation about poetry and my role as Young Poet Laureate.
On the whole, I found my year to be a very unique experience from which I will reap the benefits for years to come." Daniel Wale
Young Poet Laureate 2022 - the hunt is on!
The search is on for Warwickshire's eighth Young Poet Laureate as applications are now open!
The competition is open to anyone aged between 13 and 17 who lives and is educated in Warwickshire and who would like to perform their own poetry to an audience. Our Young Poet Laureate will take part in events and activities across the county and is offered the mentorship of a professional poet. Applications will close on Thursday 6th October.
Find out more and how to apply online at warwickshire.gov.uk/youngpoetlaureate.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please email libraryevents@warwickshire.gov.uk
Young Poet Laureate 2020 - the hunt is on!
Warwickshire Libraries are delighted to announce that the competition to become Young Poet Laureate 2020 is now open.
Young poets living in Warwickshire have the opportunity to add their name to the county’s rich literary history, following in the footsteps of local renowned poets such as William Shakespeare, George Eliot and Rupert Brooke.
The search is now on for the county's sixth Young Poet Laureate, who will succeed Hannah Owens in the role in 2020. Hannah was selected in January of 2019 and has had a busy year as Young Poet Laureate. She says: “Being Young Poet Laureate for Warwickshire is an incredible experience and privilege; you are able to meet really interesting people and poets alike and become part of an amazing poetry community in Warwickshire. You also have the opportunity to see how your poetry develops and how you develop as a performer, and with that what you can do to help other people and inspire them to write or read poetry too.”
The competition is open to anyone aged between 13 and 17 who writes poetry and is happy to perform their poetry to an audience. As part of their laureateship, the winner will work with Warwickshire Libraries to promote poetry to people across the county.
Warwickshire’s sixth Young Poet Laureate will also receive support to develop his/her own writing and performance skills in the form of mentoring by Jasmine Gardosi, an acclaimed performance poet and writer.
Applications are now welcome before the deadline of 6pm on Monday 11th November 2019. The judges will then get to work before announcing the shortlist on Friday 6th December 2019. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to perform in front of the judges and an audience at a public event on Saturday 18th January 2020 (this will be held in a Warwickshire Library and will be confirmed nearer the date).
How to apply:
Applicants need to:
- Be 13-17 years old
- Live and be educated in Warwickshire
- Submit three poems. Out of the three, one should be inspired by Warwickshire and one should be on the 2019 National Poetry Day theme of ‘Truth’.
- Submit a personal statement and explain in 250 words:
1. Why you want to be Warwickshire Libraries’ Young Poet Laureate
2. How you would promote poetry to the diverse range of people in the county
The closing date is Monday 11th November, 6pm. You can apply by downloading the application form from www.warwickshire.gov.uk/youngpoetlaureate. Alternatively, visit your local Warwickshire library to ask for a form.
Entries should be emailed to libraryevents@warwickshire.gov.uk or posted to ‘Reading and Learning Team’, Unit 20, Warwickshire Libraries, Montague Road, Warwick, CV34 5LT (they must arrive by 6pm on Monday 11th November).
Young Poet Laureate 2019 - the winner!
Warwickshire County Council are thrilled to announce that the position of Young Poet Laureate 2019 has been awarded to Hannah Owens from Princethorpe College.
Hannah was selected from a shortlist of high-calibre candidates during a finals day on 19 January 2019 where each candidate was interviewed and performed to an audience at Rugby Library.
The position of Young Poet Laureate is unique, giving the appointed person an opportunity to work with Warwickshire Libraries. Our poet laureate takes part in events and activities across the county under the mentorship of a professional poet. Warwickshire Young Poet Laureates have performed on the radio, on film, at festivals and led their own poetry workshops.
During the day the shortlisted candidates worked with professional poet Fergus McGonigal. Fergus gave advice on creative process and tips on how to perform poetry to an audience. He also treated the audience to some of his own work.
Cllr Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation at Warwickshire County Council, said:
“Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate scheme is now really established as a wonderful opportunity for young people to promote poetry for all and to hone their own writing and performance skills at the same time. We are delighted that we are able to offer this opportunity with the support of Poetry on Loan. Rugby Library was a brilliant venue for the poets to perform their work and get first-hand advice from a respected professional poet.”
This was the fifth Young Poet Laureate competition, run by Warwickshire Libraries, and supported by Poetry on Loan. The event was opened by a performance from the outgoing Laureate for 2018, Annabel Peet.
This year’s short-listed candidates were
Hannah Owens, Princethorpe College
Shona Whelan, Rugby High School
Ruby Murphy , Rugby High School
Helen Martin , Rugby High School
Evelyn Byrne , Stratford Girls’ Grammar
Also in attendance were Mark Pawsey MP, the Deputy Mayor of Rugby,Councillor Bill Lewis, WCC Deputy Leader Councillor Peter Butlin, who presented certificates and prizes to the winner and runners up.
And here's one of the poems that won Hannah her place as YPL:
Warwickshire’s Lullaby, by Hannah Owens
She shook the folds from her green cloak and settled here,
combing her roots and folding her tears through the pale earth.
Her breath mists as the first barbs of the winter's snow,
the heavy, metallic tang of industry muted
under the spell-binding gauze she weaves through her hair.
She encircles us when we grieve with the promise of spring,
her arms never wavering even when she watches us level her forests
and raise destruction in their wake.
Still, she winces when the children wail and hears the solemn cries of the crows,
Still, she pains for the lost beyond her borders; those who never make it home.
Her heart is the lonely streams and country paths, the littered streets
and ghostly playgrounds; her testimony is the empty battlefields
Her golden iris warms and seeps through the walls we raise;
she breaks apart our complacency; knows long after we are gone
she will stand, as the trees' boughs aflame in crimson, the gatekeeper for the next.
We’ve raised and risen on her horizon;
raised and risen words and war - the best and worst in all of us.
Yet she will always open her arms to us in forgiveness, child;
for she is Warwickshire, and will always welcome us home.
Young Poet Laureate 2019
It's time to start thinking about Warwickshire's 2019 Young Poet Laureate! Applications can be submitted now.
The position of Young Poet Laureate is unique, giving the appointed person an opportunity to work with Warwickshire Libraries. Our poet laureate takes part in events and activities across the county under the mentorship of a professional poet. Warwickshire Young Poet Laureates have performed on the radio, on film, at festivals and led their own poetry workshops.
Are you aged 13 – 17?
Would you like to develop your poetry writing skills?
Could you perform to audiences?
Then apply to be Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate. Apply online at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/youngpoetlaureate
Closing date is 17:00 Monday 12 November, and shortlisted applicants will be notified by Tuesday 4 December 2018.
If you want to know what it's like to be Warwickshire's Young Poet Laureate, here's a quote from Annabel Peet, last year's winner:
Being Young Poet Laureate means so much to me.It feels really cool to be involved in so many events in Warwickshire as a result of doing something I love, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity. I was absolutely overjoyed when I heard my name being announced as the winner!
Young Poet Laureate 2018 - the winner!
After a fabulous day with Emma Purshouse and Roy McFarlane in Warwick on Saturday 20th January, Warwickshire Libraries have chosen the new Young Poet Laureate for 2018
She is Annabel Peet , who lives in Hampton Magna, and attends Stratford Girls Grammar School in Shottery. She is 16.
Follow the video link, if you want a flavour of the event :
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C1q4fwCbOe0fnU0Ua24QAip14b6mvM3h
Annabel was chosen from four candidates - all girls, and all really good. But Annabel's poetry shone out, and had lots of promise.
Here is her "Warwickshire" poem attached and also her poem on "freedom" - powerful stuff!.
To Warwickshire
My music contrasts the mood of my muse
As she restlessly calls for me to hurry and
Not waste my childhood thinking about
Things children should not think about.
She wants me to follow in the footsteps
Of those who went before me,
But find my own way using the map of
History and hindsight as a guide,
Not follow step for step a given path,
But choose my own and love her for
Giving me people and places and things,
Noises and lights she has found through experience.
I am not her only ward, and certainly not
Her first, for she has had years of learning,
Years of caring for and nurturing,
From a time before she was who she is today.
Oh, we have changed her,
Moved her body into a shape that
Fits who we want her to be each century,
Changing her hills into battlements,
And rivers into moats.
In the end, she makes bards of us all.
She has no care for her physical image.
She only wants us to know her,
As the decades and centuries of those
Who have passed before us knew her,
Who have loved her as
We love her now.
Though how anyone could love her
As much as I do is a mystery to me,
For she is my guardian who has always
Shown me the path lined with roses,
Clipping thorns off each stem before
They touch me. She loves me in a way
They could never know,
In a way no person ever could.
She is my home.
Annabel Peet
Is it my body?
when did my body stop being my body?
when did the curve of my hips begin
to belong to a stranger; for their hands to
lie on without my permission or consent.
when did my thighs become some sex
object for a stranger to stare at; for them to marvel
at how they would look around their head
in their bed , as if I am not too fragile for these thoughts.
when did my chest become a haven
for a stranger; for them to dance their lips across
to the music of my cries calling for a
lost childhood of unselfconscious ease.
i was born in this body, so I thought that
i belonged to it and it to me,
but somewhere down the line they took my body
and made it theirs,
so answer me this :
was my body ever really my body,
or was it on loan to me under the false freedom of femininity?
Annabel Peet
Young Poet Laureate 2018
It's time to start thinking about Warwickshire's 2018 Young Poet Laureate! Applications can be submitted now.
The position of Young Poet Laureate is unique, giving the appointed person an opportunity to work with Warwickshire Libraries. Our poet laureate takes part in events and activities across the county under the mentorship of a professional poet. Warwickshire Young Poet Laureates have performed on the radio, on film, at festivals and led their own poetry workshops.
Are you aged 13 – 17?
Would you like to develop your poetry writing skills?
Could you perform to audiences?
Then apply to be Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate.
Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate 2018 (PDF, 804.65 KB) – application form.
Closing date is 17:00 Tuesday 31 October 2017, and shortlisted applicants will be notified by Friday 1 December 2017.
And the new Young Poet Laureate for Warwickshire is...
where are you? and why aren’t you coming back?
i saw spilt milk on your bedroom floor
soaking indistinguishable writings
that once i could have heard.
your deprivation call ringing through
my ears i sought
for the golden book i saw thrice
before,
but it could not be found by my
weary eyes,
forcibly held open by the weight of
worn aviators.
where?
where are you? and why aren’t you coming back?
i sat, pleading for your presence and
howling for your hand.
fading trains on the duvet cover
taking me to another land,
in which you slept beneath them
safely, in the proximity of my comfort.
where?
where are you? and why aren’t you coming back?
i remember the misty sheets across
your eyes as they parted with dawn’s
clouds,
whispers of fragility with only tone
understandable.
and the secret creaks above me as
you tackled the stairs!
the orange of your vomit
and the silk of your hair
where?
where are you? and why aren’t you coming back?
Emily Stephens
Could you be Warwickshire’s third young poet Laureate?
Are you aged between 13-17?
Do you write poetry and would you love to perform to an audience?
Would you like to develop your writing skills and promote poetry to other people?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then apply to become Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate. This honorary position is unique. It will give you the chance to work with Warwickshire Libraries and other organisations, taking part in events across the county.
If selected you will be presented with a certificate and book prizes. You will also be assigned a mentor; a professional poet who will support you with your writing.
“The Laureateship is a fantastic opportunity to develop as a poet, particularly as a performer, and will be a great motivator to anyone who wants to take their poetry to the next level.” Harry Jenkins, YPL 2016.
You need to:
- be 13-17 years old
- live or attend school or college in Warwickshire
- submit four poems. Out of the four poems, one should be inspired by Warwickshire and one should be on the 2016 National Poetry Day theme of ‘Messages’.
Provide a Personal Statement:
Tell us in 250 words -
- why you want to be Warwickshire’s first Young Poet Laureate
- how you would promote poetry to a diverse range of people in the county.
The closing date for applications is 5pm Monday 7th November, and shortlisted applicants will be notified by Friday 1st December.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to perform in front of a panel of judges and an audience, at an event on Saturday 21st January 2017. Candidates will be judged on their poems, personal statement and performance.
How to apply:
Apply online at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/libraries or post the form available at any of our libraries, together with your four poems and personal statement to: Amy Merriott, Unit 20, Warwickshire Libraries, Montague Road, Warwick, CV34 5LT
For further information contact amymerriott@warwickshire.gov.uk
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/libraries