Written by Gabija Alseikaite.
REDDITCH student Sophie Green has proved she is made of ‘the write stuff’ after being named Worcestershire’s 2019 Young Poet Laureate.
Sophie, who was also a finalist in 2017, won the competition with her poems ‘There Is No Filthy To This’ and ‘Manchester’.
The University of Worcester student said: “I’m incredibly stunned that I won this competition, given how amazingly talented the entire group were.”
She was congratulated by Worcestershire County Councillor Lucy Hodgson who said it was one of the closely contested competitions there had ever been.
“We have seen Sophie perform previously and it is a delight to see her now take the winning title.”
The runners-up were Catherine Darwen, 19, who also attends the University of Worcester and Cat Jones from St John’s in Worcester.
The judges included outgoing Young Poet Laureate Connor Evans, Birmingham Poet Laureate (2017-18) Matt Windle and Carol Brown from Worcestershire County Council’s Library and Learning Services.
As the winner of Word Up!, Sophie will now be tasked with writing and performing five commissions to a variety of audiences as well as inspiring people, particularly young people, to read and write poetry.
Sophie added: “I’m so excited to start work on this title I’ve been given and hopefully I make people proud by the end, especially the wonderful people I competed with and those who set up the event.”
