High Praise From Roger McGough For Chiswick's Young Poets

11 schools compete in Chiswick Book Festival's Young People's Poetry Competition

The competition judges with Roger McGough. Picture: Jim Cox

Chiswick Vihara was alive with poetry last Friday (14 September), as the venue for the annual Young People's Poetry Competition prize-giving.

The poet Roger McGough enchanted the young winners with his joyous, inimitable style and delighted the audience with sharp, witty poems. He was full of praise for the work of the young local poets.

The hall was buzzing with budding writers, teachers and their parents eager to mix with other prize winners and see their poems.

Pupils from 9 local schools participated including, Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School, Falcons School for Boys, Orchard House, Southfield School, The Godolphin & Latymer School, Kew Preparatory School, St Augustine's Priory, St Mary's Catholic Primary School and St Peter's Church of England Primary School.

The event was once again sponsored by ChiswickW4.com and Trotters who provided lovely goody bags for the main prize winners.

The judges were delighted with the quality and freshness of the poems. Organiser Nicola Kelly said: “This year the prize-giving was particularly special as it was the 10th Anniversary of The Chiswick Book Festival. We would like to say a special thank you to the teachers whose extra work and encouragement enable the children to produce such sparkling poems. We hope the children will springboard from here to new writing endeavours”.

The poems are all on display at Chiswick Waterstones so hurry along and see them for yourself.

The winners, runners up and commendations from all years are listed below.

Year 3

First Prize

‘My Reading Adventure' Annabel Moody

Second Prize

‘Rhyming Rap' Matilda Hall

Third Prize

‘Green Leaves Change' Chloe Clapcott Pemberton

Commendations

‘What I Like The Feel Of' Emily Bernard

‘Icy and Sunny Poem' Elsie Cosgrove

‘Yummy!' Preyashi Baryan

Year 4

First Prize ‘The Floating Plastic Bag' Madeleine Hall

Second Prize ‘The Ruins' Joel Dawson

Third Prize ‘Resilience' Kian Mellor

Commendation ‘Mind the Gap' Kiran Patalay

Picture: Jim Cox

Picture: Jim Cox

Year 5

First Prize ‘ The Bird of Hope' Oliver O'Callaghan

Second Prize ‘A Homeless Child' Ethan Kyalo

Third Prize ‘In the Ocean' Sophie Morrow

Commendations

‘Not Alone' Anoushka Sang

‘A Bird's Eye View' Phoebe Smith

‘ The Rain' Ludo Kosten Modder

Year 6

First Prize ‘Ballet Isn't Just For Babies' Lola Pryor

Joint Second Prize

‘Clouds' Jenifer Sumner & ‘The Swan' by Emma Levison

Third Prize

‘Supermarket' Jasper De Linde

‘The Silence of Death' Kitty Oborne

Commendations

‘Step Through the Mirror' Madeleine Elliott & ‘A Leicester City Ditty' by Alex Glynn

Picture: Jim Cox

Year 7

First Prize ‘Gone' Naomi Nnatu

Joint Second Prize ‘Impressionism: What Is It?' Ava Bileckyj & ‘The Climb' by Ella O'Connor

Joint Third Prize

‘The True Story of Monday 11 th September 2017' Elodie King & ‘What You Are To Me' by Sofia Duffy

Picture: Jim Cox

September 18, 2018