POETRY JUDGING: Ladies from Vane Women judging the Northern Echo Poetry competition pictured from left Marilyn Longstaff, Dorothy Long, Jackie Litherlind and Lindsay Balderson. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT
JUDGING on a special competition to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War has taken place.
Almost 700 young people from schools and cadet groups around the region entered The Northern Echo Schools’ Poetry Competition, creating poems reflecting on the experiences of those who fought and died during the Great War.
The top ten entries have been chosen and will be announced in the special edition of the paper that will be published on Sunday (November 9) and will feature each of the ten poems in full.
The overall winner will receive an iPad.
The entries were judged by Marilyn Longstaff, Dorothy Long, Jackie Litherland and Lindsay Balderson, of the Vane Women, the Darlington group which publishes pamphlets by North-East women poets and writers.
The competition was open to children aged between 11 and 18, with schools and groups across the region invited to take part.
“We have really enjoyed being involved – in fact, it has been a privilege, and the standard has been incredibly high,” said Ms Balderson.
Each of the entries submitted to the competition has been placed on the thenortheastatwar.co.uk website, where they can all be viewed.
