2023 Young Poets Results

We would like to congratulate all our winners and thank everyone who entered the Young Poets Competition this year. Congratulations to our young poet Madeleine Elizabeth Storer with her winning entry Birthstone

Birthstone

Chewing coal behind the shed, The baby’s born
Ablaze.
Gnawing till your gums go red. Below’s a twisted maze,
Of eerie songs, metal on stone.
A man begins to
Choke.

Floorboards over hollowed ground, graveyard cities, forgotten towns.
Fingers black like singed rocks. Dust on the ground, soot on socks.
Fruit of the labor, Daily bread.
The preacher man has lost his head
For the hoist is neverending.

The kids go off to school today,
Up the hill and far away.
Headstock looming with taunting jokes. Black. Blue.
A man chokes,
On blood like oil, thick, it burns
a naked green on the pavement
Turned putrid yellow, pink then puce.

The firemen can’t put out the light. Policemen squark, children fight.
Taste the coal, it ain’t quite right, Too hot, too cold… That’s it, scorched
Sickly sweet, gritty with grief.
Red hot gold,
bloodstone baby, keeps you cold.

Madeleine Elizabeth Storer

2023 Winners

Our thanks also go to the shortlist team and to Deanna Rodger our 2023 Young Poets Judge. Without them we wouldn’t be able to run our competitions. The winning entries can be downloaded and enjoyed from the table below.

Position	Title	Author	Download Link (Subject to Availability)
1st	Birthstone	Madeleine Elizabeth Storer
2nd	Beyond Sunlight	Andrew Pettigrew
3rd	I dreamt of Eternity	Eleanor Wade