Eighteen-year old Anna Lewis of The Blue School, Wells, is the winner of the Christopher Tower Poetry Prize organised by Christ Church at the University of Oxford. Anna was presented with her £1500 prize, as well as a £500 cheque for her school, in Oxford on 25 April, 2002. The judges for the award were Kathleen Jamie, Ruth Padel, and poet and Tutor in Poetry at Christ Church, Dr Peter McDonald.

The second and third prizewinners, Dhruv Sookhoo, 18, of Emmanuel College, Gateshead, and Thom Glover, 18, of St Paul’s School, London, also received their awards at a reception for the six shortlisted young poets, their families and schools in Christ Church Picture Gallery.

The competition, now in its second year, challenged students between 16-18 from schools and colleges throughout the UK to write a poem on the theme of ‘floods’. The Tower prizes are at the forefront in UK education in promoting the writing of poetry by young people, and the judges read hundreds of entries for the country’s most valuable literary awards in this age group.

Dr Peter McDonald said: The winning and short-listed poems display many kinds of imaginative resource, and show how good young writers can rise to the challenges of the kind which this competition sets. Poetry’s future depends, in part, on the kind of encouragement we can offer our poets, and Christ Church, through the Christopher Tower bequest, remains committed to seeking out and fostering the talent which exists in UK schools and colleges.

The other shortlisted winners were Christopher Edwards, 17, of Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Brixham; Kezia Gaitskell, 18, of Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, Elstree; and Holly Patterson, 16, of Ash Manor School, Aldershot.

First Prize

Anna Lewis, The Blue School, Wells

Second Prize

Dhruv Sookhoo, Emmanuel College CTC, Gateshead

Third Prize

Thom Glover, St Paul's School, London

Runners-up

Christopher Edwards, Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Brixham

Kezia Gaitskell, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, Elstree