Christchurch 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, of Rangi Ruru Girls’ School was awarded Best Poem for her entry, ‘To a Sister’, while Samantha (Sammy) Hickson, of Middleton Grange School, won Best Lyric Poem for ‘You Just Can’t See It’.
As Best Poem winner, Charlotte received a cash prize of $500 and 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. Sammy also received a $500 cash prize and her poem has been adapted and recorded into a song by singer/songwriter Jason Kerrison of New Zealand Music Award winning band Opshop. Mr Kerrison performed the song exclusively at the awards ceremony and Loop will distribute the song as a single and music video to radio and TV stations nationwide. The song will also be available as a free download from www.loop.co.nz.
The winners were selected from a shortlist of six finalists in each category, which were announced on 22 July. Winners and shortlisted students also receive a package of literary prizes from the New Zealand Book Council, Booksellers New Zealand, the New Zealand Society of Authors, and the magazines Sport and Landfall.
Former Poet Laureate Jenny Bornholdt, who judged the Best Poem category, said of Charlotte’s poem, “This is an extraordinarily good poem. 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.
Mr 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,” said Mr Kerrison. “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.
The Awards are also supported by Tearaway magazine, and the bNet.
Friday’s National Schools Poetry Awards ceremony will be followed during the weekend by the New Zealand Post National Schools Writing Festival, also run by Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. The Festival includes workshops and seminars with top New Zealand writers, and will be attended by 163 Year 12 and 13 students from throughout the country.
ENDS