Top young poets in Hampshire announced with awards ceremony at The Arc in Winchester

Entries were received from across the county and were judged in three age groups by Hampshire Poet, Nazneen Ahmed Pathak.

The competition was open to young people who live or study in Hampshire in three age categories, 4-7, 8-11 and 12-16 years. Entries were received from both individuals and schools and from all four corners of the county, from Fareham to Romsey, Waterlooville, Southampton, Andover, Basingstoke and Winchester.

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The competition was free to enter and invited entrants to write a poem on the theme of Jubilee, inspired by celebration, togetherness or this year’s Platinum Jubilee, with the top entries in each category receiving National Book Tokens as prizes, as well as P&G Wells tokens for the schools of the winning entrants.

On Saturday October 8, the authors of the winning poems were invited with their families to an awards ceremony in the performance hall at The Arc to celebrate their achievements.

Nazneen said: "The entries for the Hampshire Young Poets competition this year were of extremely high quality and it was extremely difficult for me to choose winners. The prizegiving ceremony at The Arc was such an uplifting and joyous event. There was an added layer of poignancy and resonance to the poems, given the Jubilee theme of the competition that was held this summer. Hearing the poems being read by their creators was extremely special and meeting them with their families afterwards to talk about writing and inspiration over tea and cakes was a treat indeed."

Jane Bryant, chair of Winchester Poetry Festival said: "The Hampshire Young Poets Competition is designed to encourage children and young people to explore their creativity and imagination to express themselves, using the power and playfulness of words.  This year, the focus on the Jubilee created a wonderful opportunity for children and young people to reflect a range of perspectives about this very special event. We received a range of delightful and thought-provoking entries and I’d like to thank all those who submitted their poems, with special congratulation to the winning entries."

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The winning poem in the 4-7 category was an entry titled #TheQueen by Leonardo Rogers, the runner-up was Nia Matthews with It’s the Jubilee!.

In the 8-11 poetry category, Clover Mason’s The Jubilee was the winning poem, with Layal Soudi as runner-up with a poem of the same name and Isabelle Evans’ Red, White and Blue in third place.

In the 12-16 age group, The Wave by Molly Towgood was in first position with Ffion Turberfield’s Reflection from Platinum Jubilee in second and Bea Underwood-Russell’s Jubilee Celebration in third.