Young People’s Poetry Competition 2021

A competition to encourage young people to enjoy creating their own poems.
Watch out for details of the 2022 competition which will be launched in April 2022.
Catch up with details of last year’s competition below.

Lucy Chambers, CBF Children’s Events Co-ordinator, writes:
The prize giving for the 11th Chiswick Book Festival Young People’s Poetry Competition was conducted by Clare Balding (above) on Friday September 10th 2021. Thanks to ChiswickW4.com – part of NeighbourNet – for its support.

Winning poems 2021

Thanks to all the children who entered the Competition.
We received almost 200 entries from across the UK.  The judges had a very hard job choosing the winners as we enjoyed all the poems very much. We have informed all the winning schools and children, but won’t be sharing the levels they achieved until the awards ceremony. I will email further details in August.

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It was wonderful in 2020 to read so many heartfelt and creative poems about the impact of Lockdown and many other themes.  You can see the 2020 winners and read the winning entries here.

Competition rules

The competition is free and open to young people aged between 8 and 12, in Years 3 to 7 on the closing date.  The aim of the competition is to celebrate children’s creativity in poetic form. So sharpen your pencils, fire up your brain cells and get writing!

There are 5 year-group categories, with prizes awarded in each section. We are delighted that the first prizes in each category are being donated by the children’s book publisher Nosy Crow – see details below.

The prize-giving ceremony for winners, their families and school staff took place on Friday September 10th 2021 from 4.30 to 5pm.

All poems must have an entry form completed and attached. Download entry forms and full rules below.  Choose between two forms: Individual entry form: this is for young people who submit poems as individuals.  School entry forms: schools can enter up to 30 poems (one per entrant.)  Teachers: complete just one form with details of all the entrants.

You can download the rules and entry forms below (scroll down for some writing tips under Poetry resources).
CBF2021 Young People’s Poetry Competition Rules
CBF2021 Young People’s Poetry Competition – Schools’ entry form
CBF2021 Young People’s Poetry Competition –Individual entry form FINAL

Thanks to ChiswickW4.com – part of NeighbourNet – for its support.

Any questions? Email me on children@chiswickbookfestival.net

Poetry resources

I was pleased to be a judge for the Blossom Day W4 Festival poetry competition.  We received many fantastic poems on the themes of nature, cherry blossom and climate change, including haiku.  I attended a fascinating Zoom workshop on haiku writing. The British Haiku Society has resources on haiku, tanka and haibun for schools and also offers school workshops.  See their website.

National Poetry Day will be on October 7th 2021.   Download a toolkit, including posters and teaching resources for schools, here.

There’s also a list of 40 recommended poetry books by age group, including some of my current favourites:

  • Joshua Seigal Welcome To My Crazy Life, Bloomsbury. Joshua made two videos for the 2020 Chiswick Book Festival and is appearing in person this year we hope.
  • F. Harrold The Book Of Not Entirely Useful Advice, illustrated by Mini Grey, Bloomsbury. Poems full of witty wordplay and silliness.
  • Joseph Coelho Poems Aloud, Wide Eyed.
  • Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris, The Lost Spells, Hamish Hamilton. Stunning watercolours with powerful poems about nature.
  • Chris Riddell Poems To Save The World With, Macmillan. Wonderful poems and illustrations.  Follow him on Twitter for daily inspiration and wit.

Read Joseph Coelho’s book:  How To Write Poems, Bloomsbury, for more tips on form.

Mrs Lucy Chambers
CBF Children’s Events Co-ordinator.

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We are delighted that prizes in each category are being donated by the publishers Nosy Crow and Walker Books.

Nosy Crow is a multi-award-winning, independent children’s publishing company. It began publishing child-focused, parent-friendly children’s books in January 2011 with the aim of creating books that encourage children to read for pleasure. It’s one of the country’s fastest growing publishing companies, the 12th biggest publisher of children’s books in the UK.

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Home to books for all ages, Walker Books publishes many award-winning authors, illustrators, and literary franchises including Anthony Horowitz, Angie Thomas, Cassandra Clare, Lucy Cousins, Anthony Browne, Patrick Ness, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, and Where’s Wally? by Martin Handford.

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