Congratulations to the six young people who have been announced as the finalists in the 2018 Betjeman Poetry Prize. They are:

Sadhbh Barclay Ní Dhaighre (11) from Gaelscoil na Cruaiche, Co. Mayo, Ireland

Jan Borysiak (13) from Oxford Spires Academy, Oxford

Ide Crawford (12) from Macclesfield (home-schooled)

Charlotte Harris (13) from The Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh

Niamh McCarthy (13) from Sacred Heart Secondary School in Clonakilty, Cork, Ireland

Joseph Oduyemi (12) from Wilson’s School, Wallington, Surrey

Annaliese Paskins (13) from Kingsbridge Community College, Devon

They were asked to write a poem on the theme of ‘place’ – anywhere that is important to them, from their bedroom to a larger landscape, from their local park to a spooky building. You can read their poems now on the Betjeman Poetry Prize website, and find out who will be named as winners on National Poetry Day, 4th October.

This year the judges were Jackie Kay and Zaffar Kunial.