The Jonathan Smith Personal Essay Prize 2025
The Jonathan Smith Personal Essay Prize celebrates originality, intellectual exploration, and the art of writing, named in honour of former Head of English and acclaimed novelist and playwright Jonathan Smith.
The competition challenges boys to explore their experiences and ideas through literature, offering a single-word prompt each year as a creative springboard. The 2025 theme, journeys, inspired a wide array of submissions across three categories: Novi, Intermediate, and Senior.
Head of English and competition adjudicator, Sam Farmer, welcomed those who gathered in the Skinners’ Library to listen to the finalists in each category read their essays. By way of introduction, Sam shared what he’d learnt from his tutor in Critical Writing when he studied for his MA. He reflected on what an essay can do not only for the reader, but for the writer also, from its role in entertaining, informing and engaging – to clarifying, challenging and revealing. He was looking for essays successful ‘in their own terms’ and reflected on how his own journey at Tonbridge has been shaped as much by the texts he has read in his eight years teaching, as by ‘real world’ experiences.
Ify (WH1) was awarded the top prize in the Novi category. Sam praised his razor-sharp ideas, effective use of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, deft reference to Greek myths and the sincerity of his style.
William (CH3) was awarded the top prize in the Intermediate category. His essay wove together his love for music, literature and reflections on his own personal development, encapsulated in the opening line, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end” – attributed to Ernest Hemingway.
Edward (WH4) as awarded the top prize in the Senior category. His essay explored ‘journey’ as both a noun and a verb, noting how, as a verb, it is underpinned by the concept of perpetual change. He astutely wove together his experience of the bleak weather and challenging walks – encountered whilst a Novi on a House trip to the Lake District – with his experience of ancient epic poetry, specifically the character Aeneas, one of the heroes of the Trojan war.
The winners will be published in The Tonbridgian, received an English Society tie and a hardback copy of Bowieland, the most recent book written by former Head of English, Peter Carpenter. Peter recently visited the school to share his work with the boys. Rather aptly, given this year’s theme, Peter’s book charts his efforts to ‘follow in the footsteps of Bowie’.
