Poetry Contest 2016 Winners

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the children and young adults who sent in poems for this year’s poetry contest. We had over 250 entries in three age categories, so choosing winners has been an especial challenge this year – many poems were very reluctantly set aside. ALL of the poems were read and appreciated for their creativity, their structure, their quality, and just the work the writers did to put their ideas down in words – very well done! Look for all of the poems on this website in the near future! (We have many more to scan than we expected, so please bear with us as we publish them in “shifts.”)

Our two judges this year were a children’s book author and a learning psychologist/author/Henry Huggins enthusiast. They were assisted by an American primary school teacher and a librarian. Fourth place winners will receive a gift certificate to paint pottery at Füürwäärch in Dübendorf (first- through third-place winners receive book gift cards). There are a few “special mention” poems, especially in the 9-11 category, which had the most entries. These do not win a prize but we wanted to acknowledge them, and they will receive a certificate of participation. Prizes should be in the mail sometime next week.

Ages 6-8

First place: “The Animals of the Forest
Johanne Deluce, age 8, Haut-Lac International Bilingual School
(The first stanza of Johanne’s poem was a prompt from the teacher, after Roger McGough’s “The Sound Collector.”)

Second place: “The Forest
Nathaniel Walmsley, age 8, Swiss International School Basel

Third place: “The Trees and the Breeze
Taylar Lieber, age 6, Swiss International School Winterthur

Fourth place: “In the Woods
Lucy Geisen, age 8, Swiss International School Schönenwerd

Special Mentions:

Bees with Fleas
Maria Forsberg, age 7, Swiss International School Basel

The Silent Forest
Inès Aloisi, age 8, Haut-Lac International Bilinugal School
(also from “The Sound Collector” prompt, which is her poem’s first stanza)

The Forest Day
Ben Dawson-Stanley, age 6, Itingen Kindergarten

In the Forest
Amy Yeow Postelthwaite, age 7, Swiss International School, Basel

The Forest
Alessandro Orlandi, age 7, Swiss International School, Basel

 

Ages 9-11

First place: “The Forest
Alina Leupi, age 9, Swiss International School Schönenwerd

Second place: “It’s Autumn
Sebastiaan Baks, age 11, Swiss International School Basel

Third place: “The Sound Collector
Anna Thorpe, age 9, Haut-Lac International Bilingual School
(The first stanza of Anna’s poem was a prompt from the teacher, after Roger McGough’s “The Sound Collector.”)

Fourth place: “The Tree
Gabriel Unglert, age 9, Swiss International School Basel

Special Mentions:

In the Forest Deep” (page 2)
Louna Seraphine Kautz, Swiss International School Basel
(second page is missing from post and will be added soon!)

Abandoned Forest
Minnie Kang, Swiss International School Basel

The Forest
Prachi Payasi, age 9, International School of Bern

Seasons
Nora Groh, age 9, Swiss International School Basel

The Soundless Forest
Lily Yeoland, age 9, Haut-Lac International Bilingual School
(The first stanza is a prompt she was given based on the poem “The Sound Collector.”)

A Fright
Melissa Lelli, Swiss International School Basel

The Forest of the Night” (page 2)
Maya Lennox, age 11, Inter-Community School Zürich

The Forest
Gianluca Bigler, age 10, Swiss International School Schönenwerd

The Little Grey Bunny
Urszula Sarnecka, Swiss International School Basel

 

Ages 12-14

First place: “The forest is
Adrian Fuchs, age 12, Swiss International School Schoenenwerd

Second place: “Light or dark?
Nils Brendel, age 13, Realschule Langenthal

Third place: “The Wild Forest
Nina Schlapbach, age 14, Realschule Langenthal

Fourth place: “Deep Below the Trees
Emma Langkjaer, age 14, Swiss International School Zürich
Note: We considered this poem the clear winner, but it was not written out by hand. Attempts to reach Emma by email to see if she would write it out were unsuccessful. We couldn’t let this lovely poem go without a prize, though, and so have placed it fourth.

Special mention: “Untitled
Florence Meyer, age 13, Swiss International School Schönenwerd

3 thoughts on “Poetry Contest 2016 Winners

  • May 30, 2016 at 5:37 pm
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    I love these poems, the children have done really well. Congratulations to the winners, the special mentions and to all entrants. It’s also excellent to see that there were winners from a public school too. Good work everyone!

    Reply
  • June 1, 2016 at 12:03 pm
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    It was wonderful to read all the poems! Congratulations to everyone, and all the others who did not win keep writing! They all showed such insightful knowledge in their own way. Loved them all!
    Nelly
    Primary school teacher

    Reply
    • June 12, 2016 at 7:05 pm
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      Thanks, Nelly, it’s lovely to have your feedback. We also were delighted with all the poems, not just the winners. And you’re right, it’d be great if they all kept on writing.

      Reply

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