Bright new stars: Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2012 announced

National Poetry Day 4^th October 2012

Fifteen bright new stars rise out over the literary landscape with the announcement of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2012 -  taking place on this years’ ‘Stars’ themed National Poetry Day, 4th October.

Young poets aged 11-17 were chosen by judges Helen Mort and Christopher Reid from an enormous constellation of talent; a record 7,351 young poets entered this year from a total of 46 countries. This year’s winners (the 15 Top winners and 85 Commended poets) come from as far as USA, New Zealand, Nigeria and Thailand. With such fierce global competition, to be selected by the judges as one of the top 100 (15 Overall Winners and 85 Commended) is truly to shine out above the rest.

Since it began 15 years ago, the Award has kick-started the career of some of today’s most exciting new voices, including this year’s judge Helen Mort, who first won the award aged just 13. The Award represents a career-changing achievement for many, and it is now firmly established as the key award for young poets aged 11-17. The phrase ‘Former Foyle Young Poet’ is now commonly found in professional biographies as alumni continue to make their mark on the wider literary world, appearing on bookshelves and at festivals the world over.

All 100 winning poets will attend a prize giving ceremony at Royal Festival Hall in London on Thursday 4^th October (National Poetry Day) where they will meet judges Helen Mort and Christopher Reid. The top 15 Foyle Young Poets of the Year will attend a residential writing week at the Hurst Arvon Centre in Shropshire or receive a poet visit to their school (age dependent). All 100 winning poets will receive book prizes and become Youth Members of the Poetry Society, the UK’s leading poetry organisation.

Overall Winners
 
Naomi Hamilton, 16, Northern Ireland, ‘The Wilderness’
Conor Mckee, 17, Kent, ‘Hemingway’s Thirst’
Clare Carlile, 17, Sheffield, ‘The Everyday Hymn’
Tallulah Hutson, 16, London, ‘The Accident’
Abigail Setchfield, 18, Bedford, ‘Reduced’
Emily Burns, 17, Pittsford New York, ‘Minutaie’
Sarah Fletcher, 17, London, ‘Brighton’
Jessica Kelham-Hohler, 17,London, ‘Jim’
Phoebe Stuckes, 16, West Somerset, ‘Reach/Throw/Wade/Row’
Sonja Moore, 16, San Diego USA, ‘The Frame’
Jesse Rodrigues, 13, Maine USA, ‘Fire Knows’
Flora de Falbe, 16, London, ‘Five  things about the lake’
Dillon Leet, 16, London, ‘Birthday Present’
Phoebe Boswall, 17, Kent, ‘Baking’
David Carey, 17, London, ‘The Apple Tree’

For further information on the Award please visit http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/fyp/.

Interview with Christopher Reid, Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

As a judge this year, what will you be looking for in the winning poems?

Pretty much what I’d be looking out for in any poem: signs of imagination, of feeling, of original thought, of a sense of form, of a musical ear.




Do you feel there is enough being done to encourage and support both young poets as well as those further along in their career?

If exams didn’t govern everything in school life, if the curriculum allowed space for the sort of wide, deep and curiosity-led reading that is the surest grounding for any writer’s career, there might be hope. 


Do you feel poetry is shedding its somewhat old-fashioned and traditional stereotype and becoming more appealing to a wider audience?

Poetry is and always had been in a state of self-renewal. The motivation for renewal comes mainly from the young, dissatisfied with what their elders have handed down to them, but whether this leads to a wider audience, or merely a different one, I couldn’t be sure.


Can you recommend any poetry collections for 11-17 year-olds?

'The Rattle Bag', edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes and 'Emergency Kit', edited by Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney, will introduce new readers what some of our finest poets consider some of the finest poems in English.


Do you have any words of advice or tips for budding poets?

Keep working at the art and enjoying it – simultaneously.

A huge thanks to Christopher for answering our questions. For further information on 2012's Foyle Young Poets competition please visit http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/fyp/.