In 2022, St Helen’s introduced its first Laureate. Now, in its third year, this role has been awarded to the winner of the Senior Creative Writing Cup in the previous year. The post-holder is commissioned to write creative literary pieces in any form to mark key moments in the school year, as well as for national and global events.
Our 2024-25 Laureate is Izzy (U6). Reflecting on her role as Laureate, Izzy said, “As this year’s Laureate, I hope to make poetry more accessible and break down the belief that it is a daunting discipline reserved only for the most academic or for the famous male poets of Shakespeare, Byron and Yeats – it really is for everyone if you know where to look.”
She continued, “I hope that in my work I can encourage others to have a go at being creative and perhaps spark a love for poetry in a future Laureate! My own love of writing has stemmed from the poems of Sylvia Plath, namely in her poetry collection ‘Ariel’. I also recommend the collections ‘Sincerity’ by Carol Ann Duffy (a poet we study at A-level!) and ‘Mercies’ by Anne Sexton, as well as the poetry foundation’s online Poem of the Day.”
Please enjoy our Laureate Izzy’s first piece, which she read for the whole school as we welcomed back students for Michaelmas Term.
An Ode to Farewells
We knew that when the brightest amber of summer had dimmed that the night of reminiscences had arrived. The bittersweet taste of goodbyes had been dispelled and so we sat as children telling our stories, the warmth of life lighting rosy faces. Amongst spills of laughter, memories danced in curls of campfire flames: how he had fallen in love, how they had made a fool of themselves, how she had regretted. And in mere words past selves were made present; they smiled with us, each existing in a collective bliss.
I stepped back and let love wash over me
Sinking into its golden nectar
Delving greedily into the passing moment
Oh how I wish to stay endlessly suspended in this instant.
Yet with the rising sun, the taste of farewell hung on the tongue. Still, a calm elation has seeped into senses – it softens sharp sorrow. I know now that love will remain ever suspended within me: I savour it for the next reminisce.
