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Christchurch teens country's top poets

Sammy HicksonCharlotte TrevellaChristchurch secondary school students have scooped the two top prizes at the 2009 New Zealand Post National Schools Poetry Awards, which were held at a ceremony in Wellington on Friday, 28 August.

Charlotte Trevella (right), of Rangi Ruru Girls’ School won best poem with 'To a Sister', while Samantha (Sammy) Hickson (far right), of Middleton Grange School, won best lyric poem for 'You Just Can’t See It'.

You heard it here first:

Listen to Charlotte Trevella read When the clocks change [1Mb .MP3].

Hickson's lyric has been adapted and recorded into a song by singer/songwriter Jason Kerrison of Opshop fame.

It is available as a free download from www.loop.co.nz. 

The winners were selected from a shortlist of six finalists in each category and shortlisted students also receive a package of literary prizes.

Former poet laureate Jenny Bornholdt judged the best poem category and said Charlotte’s poem was "extraordinarily good".

"Its poise and assured use of language is quite astonishing – it’s a sophisticated and very accomplished poem that doesn’t put a foot wrong."

Charlotte has already produced her first book of poems to be published in September.

WinnersMr Kerrison, who judged the best lyric poem entries, said he was looking for a poem that wouldn’t have to be altered considerably, and would more or less feel like it was being sung as one simply read it.

"'You Just Can’t See It' instantly appealed to the heart and ear," he said.

"The composition had a clear sense of prosody (meter / rhythm) such that everything within the poem seemed to be in relationship with everything else. Certainly one felt a sense of wholeness in the work."

This is the third year New Zealand Post has supported the National Schools Poetry Awards, which are run by Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. It is the first year the awards have been extended to Year 11 students.

About the NZ Post National Schools Poetry Awards

The awards are open to Year 11, 12 and 13 students. There are two prize categories, Best Poem and Best Lyric. The winning lyric poem will be adapted and recorded into a song each year.

The category winners will each receive a cash prize of $500 and their schools will receive a $500 book grant for their libraries. The Best Poem winner will also receive a weekend for two at New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington in March 2010.

Five runners-up in each category get a cash prize of $100.

Other prizes include literary memberships from the New Zealand Book Council and the New Zealand Society of Authors, Booksellers Tokens, and subscriptions to leading New Zealand literary journals Landfall and Sport.

 

August 2009