Tower Poetry is an organisation affiliated with Christ Church, Oxford that aims to promote the reading and writing of poetry in young people. The group is funded by a donation from the late Christopher Tower, and run by Oxford University lecturer Peter McDonald.[1]

It publishes the magazine Poetry Matters, which holds news and reviews as well as original poetry. It also runs the Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes, which awards cash prizes to the best poems submitted by young people on a specified theme, and the annual Christopher Tower Summer School.The Summer School is an annual three-day course for 18- to 23-year-olds, held at Christ Church.[2][3]

Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes

The Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes are annual prizes awarded to young British poets between the ages of 16 and 18, for poems submitted on a set theme. The prizes are administered by Christ Church, Oxford, and are funded by a bequest by the late Christopher Tower. Since their launch in 2000, the prizes have become recognised as one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious poetry awards for young writers.[4] Several past winners and runners-up have gone on to win other major poetry competitions, such as the Eric Gregory Award, and to publish collections.

Past winners and runners-up

Year Theme First prize Second prize Third prize Runners-up Guest Judges
2001 Blue Rebecca Dudley Mairi Brewis Felicity Marks Eve Blair, Swithun Cooper, Charlotte Dickens, Isabella Mead Andrew Motion and Paul Muldoon
2002 Floods Anna Lewis Dhruv Sookhoo Thom Glover Christopher Edwards, Kezia Gaitskell, Holly Patterson Kathleen Jamie and Ruth Padel
2003 Passport Aruna Nair Wing Ying Chow Hannah Briggs James Williams, Tim Smith-Laing, Sarah Henderson Lavinia Greenlaw and Anthony Thwaite
2004 Early Morning Katherine Hindley Nancy Freeman Laura Tisdale Caroline Bird, Joanna Moorman, Helen Mort Frank Ormsby and Jon Stallworthy
2005 Gravity Eley Williams Craig Farrell Miranda Cichy Francesca Beasley, Rebecca Hawkes, Shin Woo Kang Gillian Clarke and Philip Pullman
2006 A Building Colette Sensier Alice Malin Alice Alexandre David Devanny, Charlotte Geater, Julia Rampen Mark Ford and Carol Rumens
2007 Flight Charlotte Runcie Annie Katchinska Sophie Mackintosh Alice Howlett, Laura Marsh, Rees Arnott Davies Jo Shapcott and Francine Stock
2008 Change Emily Middleton Ashley McMullin Nina Bahadur Richard O’Brien, Charlotte Geater, Amelia Penny, Anna Savory Simon Armitage and Alan Jenkins
2009 Doubt Timothy Carson Iona Twiston-Davies Paul Merchant Charlotte Turner, Sophie Stephenson-Wright, Emma Jourdan, Bethany Aitman Jane Draycott and Daljit Nagra
2010 Promises Emily Harrison Katie Woods Megan Owens Jamie Sutherland, Julia Goroszeniuk, Hugo Havranek Stephen Romer and Michael Schmidt
2011 Simplicity Elizabeth Johnson Jack Westmore Abigail Richards James Browning, Thomas Fraser, Molly Underwood Frances Leviston and David Morley
2012 Voyages Sarah Fletcher Bethan Smith Millie Guille Hannah Tran, Lucy Hely-Hutchinson, Jack Whitehead Don Paterson and Christopher Reid
2013 The Details Azfa Ali Sarah Fletcher Erin Tunney Kathryn Cussons, Luke van den Barselaar, Eva Wallace Carrie Etter and Bernard O'Donoghue
2014 News Dominic Hand Sam Buckton Masha Voyles Alexander Shaw, Charlie Holmes, Jessica Matthews, Phoebe Stuckes Olivia McCannon and Kei Miller
2015 Cells Isla Anderson Max Thomas Lewis Harrington Jeremiah Ovenden, Matt Ward, Andrew Wells Ian McMillan and Helen Mort
2016 Wonder Ashani Lewis Safah Ahmed Sophia West Natasha Blinder, Ed Pryor, Grace Fraser Alan Gillis and Katherine Rundell
2017 Stone Ella Standage Annie Fan Rachel Oyawale Freya Gray Stone, Flora Barber, Sofia Al-Hussaini Vahni Capildeo and Sarah Howe
2018 Secrets' Taraneh Peryie Lucy Thynne Robbi Sher Ziqi Yan, Miranda Green, Annie Fan John Fuller and Christopher Reid
2019 Underwater Lucy Prescott Lucy Thynne Joseph Harrison Isobel Falk, Anjali Mulcock, Flora Rugman Angela Leighton and Vidyan Ravinthiran
2020 Trees Nadia Lines Fiyinfoluwa Timothy Oladipo Ahana Banerji Joyce Chen, Toby Morrison, Zara Meadows, Sabrina Coghlan-Jasiewicz A.E. Stallings and Rebecca Watts
2021 The Key Amy Beverley Victoria Fletcher Ayra Ahmad Naz Kaynakcioglu, Skye Linforth, Em Power Kwame Dawes and Elise Paschen
2022 Dream TBC TBC TBC TBC Jane Griffiths and John Clegg

References

  1. ↑ "About Tower Poetry". Tower Poetry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  2. ↑ "Christ Church, Oxford University".
  3. ↑ http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6002552
  4. ↑ "News". 12 March 2018.
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