Old Possum's
Children's Poetry Competition 2010
Roger McGough is to chair the
judging panel for a worldwide poetry competition for 7-11 year olds. The
Competition is organised by the Children's Poetry Bookshelf, a poetry book club
for young people run by the Poetry Book Society. To link with National Poetry
Day on Thursday 7 October, children will be asked to write a poem in English on
the theme of 'Home'.
Photo credit: Andy Hollingworth
Now in its fifth year,
the competition is open to both individuals and schools. Cash prizes of £250
for first prize, £100 for second and £50 for third will be awarded, along with
books and CPB memberships, in two age groups, 7-8 year-olds and 9-11 year-olds.
Entries will be accepted from Friday 10 September, up until the closing date of
Friday 15 October. The winners will be announced at a gala celebration in London
in December.
The Old Possum's Children's Poetry Competition will
encourage children to write poems of their own and help teachers to bring poetry
alive in the classroom. A teacher's guide to accompany the competition will be
available to download from the Children's Poetry Bookshelf website
(www.childrenspoetrybookshelf.co.uk <http://www.childrenspoetrybookshelf.co.uk/>
) from early September, along with further information about the
competition.
Described by Carol Ann Duffy as 'the patron saint of
poetry', chair of the judges Roger McGough is one of the UK's best-loved
poets with over 50 collections of poetry for both adults and children to his
name. The anthology The Mersey Sound, first published in 1967, showcased
McGough's poems alongside those of Adrian Henri and Brian Patten and has since
become one of the bestselling poetry anthologies of all time. Roger McGough was
awarded the CBE for services to poetry in 2005 and continues to be a very active
performance poet. With his poetry used widely in schools, children will be
familiar with the wry humour and liveliness of his work. He has twice won the
CLPE (previously the Signal) Award for the best children's poetry book and his
most recent children's collection is
Slapstick.
Roger McGough is joined by a
distinguished panel who are passionate about children's poetry: the
poet/guitarist James Carter, who travels widely giving poetry
performances and workshops; Julia Eccleshare, writer, broadcaster,
lecturer, Co-Director of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education and the
Guardian's Children's Books Editor; David Fickling, distinguished
publisher of David Fickling Books, a Random House imprint for children's books;
and Caroline Horn, Children's News Editor of The Bookseller and
founder of the Reading Zone children's books website.
