We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook Student Poetry Competition in celebration of Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.
Year 11
First prize
Ellie Zhou, ‘50c lemonade’
‘When I was a babe, I tried to drown myself in half a glass of roadside lemonade./I settled/amongst crushed pulp,/gorged myself on undissolved granules.’
Judge’s comments: Multiple exciting pieces in Ellie’s offering, with vibrant striking sensory imagery, & sharp original tone.
Second prize
Mariam Rietveld, ‘Pencil Led’
‘In the haze/we're all smudged together,/right? Fledge of a tūī/gleaming with grief/in the eye, the f-stop, the flash’
Judge’s comments: Powerful central image, observed with tight control, and compelling vocal moments.
Third prize
Samuela Dsouza, ‘Cut Out’
‘She draws in orange crayon/The girl she wants to be/Cuts out new hair/Colors it green/Cuts out the feet/Where a mermaid tail should be.’
Judge’s comments: Energy & emotional force contained in tight line breaks, & images that left a lingering impression.
Highly commended: Alina Li, ‘Well Entertained’; Ellie Wlliams, ‘Josephine Rose’
Year 12
First prize
Jasmine Liu, ‘Family tree’
‘I am born enclosed in hexagonal tessellations,/This matriarch will put me to work,/And I go to sleep with darkness hanging over me because I’ve been wrapped up in my/lifetime | 辈子 and promises of the future.’
Judge’s comments: Arresting originality in voice, sparking images, & striking phrasing, showed the touch of an instinctive poet.
Second prize
Penny Dai, ‘Ceramics’
‘Now I am juxtaposed behind you/the silhouette to your glow/Your plate white features, fine ceramics/Lustrous but softly spoken’
Judge’s comments: Real tension in framing & tone, strong focus, energy & originality in voice.
Third prize
Devon Johnson, ‘Undone’
‘I'm leaving unfinished poems in my footsteps/So I can revel in that irregular, irritating beat/So I can cross the road as a human/and not as my words’
Judge’s comments: Striking images and sound awareness, vivid use of rhythmic refrain with a nice line tension.
Highly commended: Lily Foster, ‘Ragdoll’; Shraiya Goberdhan, ‘The Stars That Guild Us’
Year 13
First prize
Chloe Morrison-Clarke, ‘Resonance’
‘she comes into class wearing a turtleneck and a swishy skirt and a smile and she/tells me about/skin to skin. about/feeling the echo of somebody else’s heartbeat’
Judge’s comments: Startling confrontation of a high-impact subject, with a fluent & forceful voice, hard-hitting emotional resonance.
Second prize
Molly Laurence, ‘3rd Season not counting Spinoffs’
‘My grandmothers and I watch Bridgerton together/they line up like harpies/they shuffle and fluff’
Judge’s comments: Charming, sharply skilled & disarming piece, with a lively focus & rich word choices, amusing yet with potent point to make.
Third prize
Annabelle Lee, ‘entwined in the embers’
‘Mama,/let me inhale the breath of your bones./It embeds itself into the Batik fabric/you draped over my shoulder eight years ago.’
Judge’s comments: Vivid grace in lyric voice, using ekphrasis to conjure rich network of images and association.
Highly commended: George McKinnon, ‘A Portfolio of Life’; Rebecca Rombel, ‘Rebecca Rombel’; Isobel Forsey, ‘Primary school disco’; Layla Hoskin, ‘Sub-identity’; Nathan Mutch, ‘Idk really’
Congratulations once again to these budding poets and to all who entered; we recieved many incredible entries. We can’t wait to see what the amazing ākonga of Aotearoa produce next year!
Thanks to Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day and Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato the University of Waikato for their support.
Read the winning poems here.