Newcastle University

Earlier this year under 14 and under 19 year olds from the North East were invited to enter their poems on the theme of belonging for a chance to win an Amazon Kindle. Last night competition judge Matthew Sweeney, awarded prizes to ten young poets from the North East. In his speech, Matthew was delighted to have read so many thoughtful and exciting entries that explored belonging from many wide ranging perspectives. The poems are a celebration of the North East.

The winners across both categories were as follows:

Under 14 

Winner: Faye Sowerby for her poem ‘The North East’.  

Runners-up: Joe Foster for ‘The Toon’, Charlie Bradley for ‘Belonging’ and Toby Pearce for  ‘Belonging’.  

Under 19 

Winner:  Jenny Waitt for her poem ‘A Sense of Belonging’.  

Runners-up: Adam Napier for ‘Interconnectedness’, Bethany Hamer for ‘Belonging’ and Jenny Waitt for ‘Friend’.

The winners both received a Kindle, and the runners up a £50 book voucher. In addition, two IPod shuffles were awarded to two poets chosen by our panel of young adult judges. The winners of these were Anna Wilson for her ‘Belonging’ in the under 14 category, and Jennifer Thomson for ‘Observer’ in the under 19 category.

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered the competition. The winning poems will be featured on our new Young Voices website coming soon.