The winners of a
poetry competition who penned verse about life in Peterborough have seen
their poems published on posters in buses.
The Peterborough
Literacy Campaign, a National Literacy Trust initiative to boost literacy
levels in the area has announced the winners of their Love Peterborough
poetry competition whose poems have now been published in selected Stagecoach
buses. Judged by star of the Harry Potter films, Warwick Davis, the
competition’s aim is to inspire a love of writing in the area.
Adults and
children, aged eight and over from across Peterborough got scribbling about
their pride for their home city and its many sights, sounds, smells and
tastes. Warwick Davis was joined on the judging panel by local poet, Mark
Grist and the Chief Executive of Vivacity, Kevin Tighe, who all enjoyed
reading about the writers’ enthusiasm for Peterborough’s many gems including
its stunning cathedral, fascinating heritage and the serene Cambridgeshire
landscape. Entries were commended for their passion and original imagery, as
well as their rhythm and humour.
To encourage people
to enter the competition, the National Literacy Trust Hub Bradford’s Manager,
Imran Hafeez visited schools in Peterborough to captivate budding wordsmiths
through rap and lyrical performances. Teacher Chris Wells from Gladstone
Primary School said children were “totally entranced” by the advice Imran
offered and that workshops gave the children much more confidence in writing
ideas for poetry of their own.
The winners are:
Children’s category
Winner: Melody The
Bill, aged 10 at Longthorpe Primary School. Read
it here.
Runner up: Mohammed
Subhan, aged 11 at Gladstone Primary School.
Read it here.
Commended: Lawrence
Gould, aged 10 at Longthorpe Primary School. Read
it here.
Adult’s category
Winner: Vivien
Foster. Read
it here.
Runner up: Sophie
Hood. Read
it here.
The winner of the
children’s category for the competition, Melody The Bill said:
“I really
enjoyed the poetry workshops. My favourite bit was when Imran read out his
own poems which were really entertaining. With every word I wrote I
remembered all the cool things we have in Peterborough and as I was writing I
was doing research and found out a lot about where I live. I was delighted
when I found out I had won out of all the people that entered and grateful
that they were putting my poem on the bus.”
Local poet, Mark
Grist said:
“The pieces were all so evocative of Peterborough and taking part
in judging has been a lot of fun. Melody’s poem was sharp, playful and packed
full of charm. I wish I'd written it! Congratulations to the winners and I
urge all Peterborians to give creative writing a go – it’s a great way to get
heard!”
Sally Atkinson, the
National Literacy Trust Hub
Peterborough’s Manager said:
“Poetry is a fantastic way for people to express themselves and look
at their surroundings in a new light. The Peterborough Literacy Campaign is
all about providing fun ways to improve literacy skills in the area and the
passion in these entries shows how empowering writing can be.”
Stagecoach will be
continuing to support the Peterborough Literacy Campaign by displaying its
posters which encourage families to read and share stories with their
children from birth.
Zoe
Paget, Operations Director, Stagecoach East said:
“At Stagecoach we strive to be active members
of our local communities, so partnering with the Peterborough Literacy Campaign
to inspire a love of writing in the area and celebrate all that this city has
to offer has been a great opportunity. We hope that the winning poems make our
customers smile and we’re looking forward to further supporting this important
initiative.”