POETIC students at Rugby High School (RHS) have won prizes at Trinity College Dublin’s international poetry competition.
Poppy Crossland won the first prize of 400 Euros at the prize-giving ceremony for the university’s prestigious annual poetry competition, while Ruby Murphy was highly commended.
The poetry competition was inspired by the Book of Kells, which is kept on display at the university. Regarded as one of the great medieval treasures of Europe, it is an ancient illuminated manuscript of the Gospels written in 800 A.D. by Celtic monks. The theme of the poetry competition was to write about animals in the Book of Kells.
The two RHS students were given a tour of the famous library and got to see the manuscript close up.
Ruby Murphy was highly commended at the competition.Ruby, from Year 11, was in the final of the Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate last month, and last year won the Rupert Brooke poetry competition run by Rugby School.
Year 13 student Poppy has won many awards for her poetry, including the Holocaust Memorial Day Poetry prize 2019, which means she will have a chance to visit Bosnia.
Poppy said: “’It was a fantastic evening and we had a great time seeing all of the amazing art and creative writing the Book of Kells had inspired people to create.
“A definite highlight was seeing the statue of ‘Shakefpear’ in the long room.”
The school’s head of English Olga Dermott-Bond said: “I am so thrilled for Poppy and Ruby, who are both truly talented writers.”
