Ekphrastic Excellence: Pupils Turn Art into Poetic Vision
15 May 2025 - Academic
This year, the theme of the annual School Poetry Competition, run by the English Department, was ekphrastic poetry, poems inspired by a work of art. This prompted a variety of engaging and creative entries as always. Polly (UVI), our Poet Laureate, was the judge for the Junior category, see the results below.
Highly commended was awarded to Anjola’s (LIV) Late Night Beach Experience and Wendy’s (UIII) Jacketwhistle.
Runner up was Dorcas’ (UIII) With a Little Hope. Polly reported that she liked the way Dorcas portrayed the relationship between the ocean, the bird and the fisherman in Monet’s Impression, Sunrise.
The winner of the Junior category was Alison (UIII), with her piece titled Metamorphosing. Alison’s poem showed a clever manipulation of form to match the fluidity of Turner’s Death of Actaeon, as well as skilfully evoking the nature and colour of the artwork itself through the paint imagery.
For the Intermediate entries, Poet Mariah Whelan was the judge.
Highly commended were Awakening by Victoria (UIV) and Icarus Flight by Rosa (UV).
The runner-up was After Dark by Annika (UV). Mariah shared ‘I loved that the poet has developed an experimental, jazz-like style to bring to life two paintings that depict life during the roaring twenties in New York, USA’.
The winner of the Intermediate category was At the Foot of the Diamond Cliffs by Catherine (UV). Mariah explained ‘The dreamy, misty language skilfully mimicked the sketch-like marks of the painting. Most impressively, the poem’s metaphorical language added an additional layer to the original painting’s dreamy cliffs, narrating a rich history full of emotion.’
‘At the Foot of the Diamond Cliffs’
Mariah Whelan also judged the Senior Category.
Highly commended were Makes Your Eyes Roll by Eden (LVI) and The Persistence of Memory by Helena (LVI).
The runner-up was Viewer Experience (Yellow over Purple) by Jessica (UVI). Mariah reflected ‘The poem is about a viewer’s experience of staring at a Rothko painting and the brave decision to incorporate the painting meant that it was almost like I was the speaker of the poem, staring at the painting in the gallery’.
The winner of the Senior category was The Sun Did Not Drown With You by Cice (LVI). Mariah shared ‘What I love about this poem is the way that it mixes real emotion with impressive poetic control. The poet’s use of the second person ‘you’ allowed me to feel as though I was directly implicated in this sad story of parental grief.’
‘The Sun Did Not Drown With You’
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