This year’s Student Poetry Competition drew a record response from young writers across Victoria.
More than 1300 poems were submitted by students from Foundation to Year 12, the highest number of entries since the competition began in 2020.
Years 11 and 12 poets wrote with maturity and depth, reflecting on gratitude, memory and change. Their poems reveal the skill and sensitivity that come with experience, as well as a clear love of language.
Years 11 – 12 written poetry
Winners:
- My mother’s Love Sewn into my Jeans by Julia Wei, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School
- All Lies on Rafah by Sachi Chivers, Yarra Valley Grammar
Finalists:
- Ode to being a Teenager by Annabel Jansen, ELTHAM College
- A Sonnet for Gruoch by Abbie Gargett, Donvale Christian College
- Limbo by Isobel Robson, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School
- My Mother, a Kumquat Tree by Ruby Tu, Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School
- A Tea Party of Ghosts by Sophia Bueskens-Wong, Ballarat Grammar
- Keep me where the Light Is by Sophia Zheng, Lauriston Girls’ School
- The Foreshore by Talia Gul, Sirius College
- Ordinary Grace by Victoria Meng, Huntingtower
- Witch Hazels by Zain Deen, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School
Honourable Mentions:
- Erosion by Chess Richard, St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar
- Loose Change by Apple Zhang, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School
- Love is Screaming your Voice Hoarse by Astrid Flaim, Billanook College
- Screens by Charlotte Bongers, Cathedral College Wangaratta
- I kinda miss what you put me through. by Charlotte Elizabeth Hardicre, Monbulk College
- Everywhere and Nowhere by Halimah Sheikh, Al Siraat College
- The Artist by Harriet Thoroughgood, Highview College
- Obsession by Isaac Lam, Tintern Grammar
- The Lie of Diversity by Juman Alhashemi, Al Iman College
- Ocean by Mia Daniele, Catholic Regional College Sydenham
- Italic by Nikita Carabott, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School
- The Unspoken Truth of a Wilting Flower by Rhani Thomson, Cathedral College Wangaratta
- Things I am Grateful For by Robyn Callaghan, Mansfield Autism Statewide Services
- The Colours of Life by Sarah Howlett, Luther College
- Ophelia: Beyond the Fall by Sayu Weerasinghe, Presbyterian Ladies’ College
- Did They Dream of Falling? by Sophie Lew, Firbank Grammar School
Years 11 – 12 performance poetry
Winner:
- Trophy by Katherine Lam, Presbyterian Ladies’ College
Finalists:
- Stop the Rush by Helena Farley, Luther College