Foyle Young Poet awards

Foyle Young Poetry Awards 2009 Launched


Last night saw the launch of this years prestigious Foyle Young Poet of the Year award at the Sage, Gateshead with performances from two of its previous winners.

The ceremony is organised by the Poets Society and aims to seek out the best new young poets aged between 11 and 17 in order to help improve their talents and is now in its 12th year.

The prize for the winners in the 14-16 age bracket is will attend a week-long residential course at one of the prestigious Arvon Centres where they will be able to discuss and share ideas with fellow aspiring young poets.

First up was Richard O’ Brien who won this award in 2006 with his poem Calendar Girl..
A writer since he was a young child Richard mentions how winning the competition “really made me think that people think my work is worth talking about and something that needs to be developed. It really made me take poetry seriously in a way in which I didn’t know I was allowed to.”

Richard also found the prize of a weeks residence at the esteemed Arvon Centre hugely beneficial. “In terms of meeting people who care as much about poetry as you do, just
spending a week sharing that love and that feeling that its worthwhile is definitely the best thing you can have as a writer when you’re 14, 15, 16.”

Caroline Bird has had two books published since she won the award once in 1999 and again in 2000 and she was second to read through her work which was both widely vivid and imaginary whilst at the same time steeped in everyday life.

Also a writer form a young age she says how she “Didn’t realise I was writing poetry at the start, I just didn’t go until the end of the line.”

This years winners are set to be announced on National Poetry day on October 9th and entrants can send in their poems through the Poem Societies website now.