The Poetry Society has announced the top 15 poets and 85 commended poets in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year award 2019. The winning entries were selected from over 6,000 poets and over 11,000 poems by this year’s judges Raymond Antrobus and Jackie Kay. Writers aged 11-17 entered the competition from 76  countries.

In their judging report, Antrobus and Kay said: “If poetry is the language of being human, here we have poets speaking in every cadence possible. We were happy to get a sense of how many poets come from all different corners of the world – for there are no borders or boundaries to cross in the world of poetry and no one need carry a passport to get in.”

The 15 top poets are: Amy Saunders, Annie Davison, Cia Mangat, Dana Collins, Em Power, Helen Woods, Jean Klurfeld, Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith, Libby Russell, Lydia Wei, Nadia Lines, Suzanne Antelme, Talulah Quinto, Thomas Frost and Trinity Robinson.

The 85 commended poets are: Abhilipsa Sahoo, Adriana Aida Che Ismail, Ahana Banerji, Aimee Hartley, Ali Nyirenda, Amelia Clark, Amélie Nixon, Anjali Mulcock, Anna Gilmore Heezen, Anne Kwok, Anya Trofimova, Ari Vishin, Arna Kar, Aziza Adam, Callum Roberts, Charlotte Mills, Corina Robinson, Cosima Deetman, Daniel Chen, Daisy Winstone, Duy Quang Mai, Elise Withey, Elizabeth Thatcher, Ella Saville, Ella Stanton, Emilia Brooks, Emma Miao, Eryn Lee, Esin Aynal, Esther Kim, Eve Connor, Eve Lawson, Eve Warden, Evelyn Byrne, Hannah George, Heather Hughes, Ifeoluwa Olatona, Isabella Cho, Isabelle English, Ishika Jha, Jacob Heagney, Jacob Keneson, Jayla Blaba, Jessica Lawrence, Jimin Lee, Joshua Wood, Kai Jardine, Kate Moore, Katie Kirkpatrick, Khushi Daryani, Kitty Robinson, Lucy Gardner, Lucy Stone, Martha Iris Blue, Meena Rakasi, Meredith LeMaître, Mia Cassidy, Nabeha Dhar, Nancy Gittus, Neha Agrawal, Nizara Ziaudeen, Olivia Petris, Pacey Holloway, Ploy Techawatanasuk, Plum Hector-Taylor, Poppy Wallhead, Rain Wang, Reda Ziani, Rian Paton, Rowan Jessop, Sam Carrick, Samyukta Iyer, Sandra Chen, Santiago McDonnell Grundy, Sarah Nachimson, Sarah Nazir, Sarah Yang, Shaw Worth, Sinéad O’Reilly, Sophie Thynne, Sophie White, Thariny Suresh, William An, Xinyue Jenny Jiang and Zannamarie Ashton.

PIcture shows the 15 winners with judges Jackie Kay and Raymond Antrobus

PHOTOGRAPH: HAYLEY MADDEN

You can read the winning poems on the Poetry Society website here