A budding young writer has produced a prizewinning poem described as a 'masterpiece' by a distinguished professor of poetry.
Ripon Grammar pupil Lola Maybank’s poem was selected from more than 100 entries as the winner of this year’s RGS Hullah Poetry Trophy competition, which has been running since 2014.
Dr Paul Hullah, professor of poetry at Tokyo’s Meiji Gakuin University, praised the high standard of entries from students, parents and past pupils.
He saidL
“Poetry is alive and well, it seems: in the safe, skilled hands of RGS pupils, their venerable predecessors and parents.”
He described 16-year-old Lola’s prose poem entry, Hydrangeas, as a quite wonderful surprise:
“A form so notoriously difficult to do well, but this… this is a masterpiece.”
Former RGS student and acclaimed poet and author Dr Hullah sent his admiration and gratitude to everyone who took the time to compose and enter a poem.
He added:
“Bravissimo, each and every one of you that created a flower poem this year. More entries than ever. Admirable talent, awesome variety.”
Lola, from Melmerby, who has been writing poetry since she was six, said she was overwhelmed to win and discover her work was enjoyed and recognised by someone other than herself.
She was inspired by the competition theme of ‘flowers’ to reflect on human behaviour surrounding flowers and how we keep them in our homes.
She said:
“I feel Hydrangeas are a symbol of dignity and pride with their large and decorative heads."
Dr Hullah, added:
“All lyrical introspection with understated irony, Hydrangeas masterfully employs emotionally charged diction and subtle tonal shifts to reveal a speaker whose idiosyncratic worldview transforms a scene of routine caretaking into a quietly profound meditation.”
Lola, studying French, Spanish and maths at A-level, and aiming for a career in medical journalism or overseeing clinical trials counts Oscar Wilde, John Steinbeck, Yann Martel, and Haruki Murakami among her favourite writers.
Student runner up in the competition was Faith Hartford, 13, from Harrogate, with her poem, Daisy Dungarees.
Dr Hullah said:
“With gentle musicality, formal repetition, and subtle shifts in temporal perspective, this witty poignant piece delicately weaves memory, materiality, and emotional growth into a user-friendly compact poetic rumination.”
He added:
“The speaker’s quietly profound worldview renders a child’s discarded garment a symbol of innocence, temporal dislocation, and the bittersweet textures of personal change. Adorable writing.”
Trinabh Srinivisan and Francesca Kirkman were highly commended for their poems, Forget-me-not: a Modern Ballad and Daffodils.
In the wider community category, first place was taken by an anonymous parent, whose poem ‘I think you said that white lilies were your favourite’ was described as:
“A magisterial but modest meditation on the moral reach of simple grief, this is a quietly devastating elegy.”
Runners up were Alicia Haydn with Honeysuckle and Joanne Swiers with Yellow Rattle.
Read the prize-winning poems and judge's remarks here.
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