Published Poets
As the Michaelmas term drew to a close, we received the exciting news that several of our Years Seven and Eight pupils were to become published poets!
All the pupils are members of the Year Seven or Year Eight Book Clubs. The Lower School Book Clubs aim to inspire and develop a love of reading, introduce pupils to new writers and genres, and generally build excitement and enthusiasm around reading and books in the relaxed and engaging setting of the Philip Sawyer Library.
Last term, alongside the usual quizzes, discussions and book recommendations, we had a creative writing and competition focus with pupils choosing to enter their own original poems and short stories into national competitions run by Young Writers. The Power of Poetry – Feelings Within was introduced to the pupils on National Poetry Day. This competition, which is open to 11-18 year olds, invited pupils to, “write a poem to change the world… to tackle important issues and express your views, your emotions, your passion and your pain”. We had some wonderful poems written by the pupils on a range of subjects that included: endangered species, the natural world, mental health, friendship, the environment and climate change.
We were incredibly proud therefore, that all the RGS pupils who entered The Power of Poetry – The Feelings Within competition have had their work selected for the collection; this will be published in February 2023. Congratulations go to all of our published poets: Lexi Collins, Alice Benbow, Imogen Warne and Esme Ammonds in Year Seven, and to Erin Docherty, Audrey Hargreaves, Henry Webber, Sophia Hamilton, Mirin Hutchings, Emily Pipe and Peter Jackson, in Year Eight. We look forward to sharing more stories, books and poetry in 2023.
Sally Houchin
Teacher of English & Assistant Head of Year Eight