Staveley Poetry publication celebrates young writers’ work
A brand new publication features more than 50 of the best poems written by Tonbridge boys for this year’s Staveley Poetry Prize.
The competition, which is open to every student at the school, has been running for well over half a century. It is named after a remarkable teacher at Tonbridge, Tom Staveley, who taught and inspired Sidney Keyes, one of the greatest poets of the Second World War.
The English Department’s Peter Carpenter said: “This year’s competition prompted more than 120 entries.
“We thought that the quality and range of the poems was remarkable and merited a publication, and so we produced an 80-page booklet to showcase the very best of the boys’ work. We hope everybody enjoys the poems on offer – there is a lot of fine writing within the pages.”
This year’s prize was judged (back in June 2020) by renowned poet Jonathan Edwards. His debut collection, My Family and Other Superheroes, was recently chosen by booksellers as one of their top 25 favourite poetry books of the past quarter of a century, following a survey by National Poetry Day. He is currently one of the three judges for the 2020 National Poetry Competition run by the Poetry Society, the biggest and most prestigious UK poetry prize.
After commending the high quality of the entries, Jonathan chose overall winners for the three age groups. Archie Capon (WH5) won the Senior Prize, Jack Walder (PS2) was selected for the Intermediate Prize, and James Tam (MH1) won the Novi Prize.
The new publication features the poems awarded first, second and third prize in each category, as well as all the entries that were either Highly Commended or Shortlisted.
Jonathan said: “I applaud the achievements of all these young writers and am hugely grateful for the opportunity to read their work. There was fascinating treatment of a wide range of subjects, from Oxfam shops to the shadows of pheasants, a lion’s roar to the music of Bach, the rat in Ratatouille to strange happenings in a ‘Meadow Off the M25’.”
Peter Carpenter added: “Tonbridge School has a very strong poetic tradition, fostered by an active creative writing society, annual residential writing weeks, and ‘in house’ workshops given by experienced tutors and published writers.
“Above all, though, the boys’ love of poetry is nurtured by day-to-day work in an English Department that encourages creativity, risk-taking and open minds. We put imaginative writing at the very heart of our teaching.”
Staveley Poetry Prize 2020: Results (June 2020).
Senior:
1st: Archie Capon (WH5), ‘Oxfam’
2nd: Alban Fenn (WW5), ‘Pheasants’
3rd: Jon Webber (FH4), ‘Meadow off the M25’
Highly Commended:
Paddy Davies-Jones (Sc4), ‘Red River’
Dan Carr-Hill (Sc5), ‘Italian Chef’
Jamie Whitney (Sc5), ‘Do You Remember?’
Intermediate:
1st: Jack Walder (PS2), ‘The Roar’
2nd: Jais Picariello (WW2), ‘Switchblade’
3rd: Jamie Lambert (Sc3), ‘A Question’
Highly Commended:
Ollie Sykes (HS2), ‘The Lesson’
Alikhan Murat (FH3), ‘Everything works at home’
Marcus Siu (Sc3), ‘The End’
Novi:
1st: James Tam (MH1), ‘Butterfly’
2nd: Johnnie Averdieck (WW1), ‘Bach Violin Sonata No. 1, Hillary Hahn’
3rd: Jean Van Der Spuy (FH1), ‘Assurance’
Highly Commended:
Dominic Fulton (WH1), ‘Beginnings’
Isaac King (CH1), ‘Cumulonimbus’
Sam Edwards (PS1), ‘Starry Night’
