On Thursday 20 March, students, parents and staff enjoyed a poetry evening with the St Helen’s Laureate, Izzy.
Mr Muir, Head of English, reflects below:
Thursday 20 March was a ‘Bittersweet’ evening – that is, it was the publication launch of ‘Bittersweet’, the first poetry collection of this year’s St Helen’s Laureate’s, Izzy, at the inaugural An Evening with the St Helen’s Laureate.
There’s a lot to take in in that sentence, but it echoes in style what the evening itself bestowed on us. Not only did we enjoy five original poems from Izzy, but also works by 10 other students, and 6 readings by teachers, who all read a combination of their own writing and their favourite pieces by published authors.
We heard poems on topics including trees, supernovae, crowds, husbands, and a beautiful reworking of a well-known hymn to explore the daughter of God. It wasn’t all poetry, either, with Maddie in Y11 treating us to an entertaining and poetically penned review of Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of).
This now-annual event promises to be a highlight of the St Helen’s calendar for years to come. Congratulations to Izzy on her work as Laureate this year, and we look forward to hearing her final original piece at Prizegiving in July.
