Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate 2023/24 has been crowned!

Congratulations also to Bethany Lunney, winner of the Year 6,7,8 age group, and Evie West, winner of the Year 9,10,11 age group.

The annual Young Poet Laureate competition has been running in Worcestershire for several years and aims to encourage young people to express themselves through poetry. It also provides a platform for young poets to showcase their work and gain recognition for their talent.

On the day before the competition final the 12 finalists were given an online coaching session with tips on how to perform, before taking centre stage and performing their poems to the panel of judges on Sunday at The Hive, Worcester. Amelie impressed the judges with her exceptional writing skills and ability to convey powerful emotions through her poetry, and was announced Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate for 2023/24.

As Young Poet Laureate, Amelie will take part in various projects throughout the year, including leading poetry workshops, having her work published, and performing at events and festivals.

Hannah Perrott, Assistant Director for Communities said: “The Young Poet Laureate event is a wonderful annual tradition in our county. It showcases the talents of budding young poets who continue to astound me with their talent each year. Congratulations to Amelie, Bethany and Evie and to all the finalists for their inspiring work. We look forward to seeing the impact that Amelie will have as an ambassador for poetry in Worcestershire and beyond.”

Elaine Knight, Arts Director, Severn Arts added: “Well done to all our finalists and congratulations to our fantastic winners! The standard of entries was really high, and we would like to thank everyone for taking part this year. The competition provides a wonderful opportunity for young poets to express their views creatively. We were really pleased with the number of schools and young people that got involved this year. We’re looking forward to sharing the anthology of the poems soon and to working with our new Young Poet Laureate over the coming year.”

You can read Amelie’s winning poems ‘Ascension’ and ‘Spacetime is shaped like a railway track’ on the Worcestershire County Council website.