Student’s Surprise In Poetry Competition

After recently entering Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate competition, second year student, Amy MacKenzie is celebrating the news that, even though she did not make it to the final, the organisers of the competition have since approached her to ask if they can publish one of her poems in their anthology. Each year, young people from across the county are invited to take part in this competition, run jointly by Severn Arts and Worcestershire County Council. The competition is open to children and young people aged 8 to 18. Hundreds of young people entered the competition and only one winner was chosen out of each age bracket (8 to 11, 12 to 15 and 16 to 18).

Amy commented ‘I entered the Young Poet Laureate competition very last minute after my teacher, Kate Wolstenholme, shared it with my class. Sadly, I didn’t win, however, I have been contacted by the organisers to say that they had selected my poem as one of the small number of the entries whose poetry they thought was brilliant and wanted to showcase, despite them not making it to the final! I was absolutely ecstatic to have been chosen for this and was so grateful that Kate had shared the details of the competition as I would not have known about it otherwise. I will always be grateful for the encouragement I have received during my time at College, and, after doubting my own skill when it comes to writing, Kate has helped me to begin to gain confidence. One day I hope to be a successfully published author of several novels, but this will always be my first publication and, no matter how small, I will remember Kate as the person who opened that door for me!’

After College, Amy plans to do a joint degree at the University of Glasgow in Celtic and Classical Civilisation which she is really looking forward to. Worcester Sixth Form College would like to congratulate her on her success so far, and wish her all the best for the future.