Eight-year-old Yarm Preparatory School pupil, Alexandra Prideaux, has continued her poetry success winning the U11 2021 Terry Kelly Poetry Prize.
Alex read her poem, Paper on the Pavement, on stage at the award ceremony, held at the Custom House Theatre in South Shields. The entries were submitted in 2020, with no competition being held in 2021.
Recently Alex also received an award for her participation in the prestigious Charles Causley Trust Young Person’s Poetry Competition.
Alex was awarded ‘1st Highly Commended’ in the 7-11 age category for ‘Tilly Tiger’, one of the first poems Alex wrote, when she had just turned five.
Alex was previously shortlisted for the top prize in the 2019 Terry Kelly poetry prize, narrowly missing out on first place. Alex was also shortlisted for the Wicked Young Writers Award 2018 (category 5-7) and has been a prize winner in two Poetry Zone competitions.
Alex said: “I love writing poems and being creative and I really enjoy sharing my writing with other people. I am really proud of myself for winning and I can’t wait to enter more competitions like this one.”
Bill Sawyer, Headmaster at Yarm Prep School, said: “Alex is a very talented young girl who is competing with children several years older than herself.
“We believe in nurturing young talent, and we actively encourage our pupils to take part in competitions and awards which will stretch their learning, develop confidence and give them the recognition they deserve.”
Paper on the Pavement
I saw it
over there; swirling,
spiralling, soggy
from rain and snow melt.
Paper,
on the pavement,
creased, folded,
dirty and damp.
What message was carried?
Invitation or card?
“I love you” “I miss you”
A bunch of words;
abandoned,
forgotten,
dropped.
Never to be read.
Wrapping paper ripped
from treasured toy.
Broken, rubbish,
bin tipped over;
Tumbling now through
mud and leaves.
Family photo fallen,
left behind, from
pocket or purse?
Or simply none,
nothing, blank,
plain.