Eleven-year-old Laurissa, a pupil at St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School, Milton Keynes crowned Poetry By Heart National Champion
Eleven-year-old Laurissa, a pupil at St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School, Milton Keynes has been crowned Poetry By Heart National Champion in the Grand Finale of the national poetry speaking competition held at Shakespeare’s Globe in London on Monday 7 July.
Laurissa chose to perform 'Harriet Tubman' by Eloise Greenfield in the competition. The judges, poets Daljit Nagra, Patience Agbabi, Liz Berry, Valerie Bloom, Glyn Maxwell, Paul Munden and Jean Sprackland were very impressed with her performance saying, “This was a mature performance, delivered in a clear, confident voice that communicated meaning and emotion to the audience. Laurissa really understood and took ownership of the poem.”
Laurissa also performed a second poem by heart on The Globe’s main stage, ‘Songs for the People’ by Frances E.W. Harper. She was watched by 800 guests including VIP poets and members of parliament.
The Poetry By Heart competition invites young people to choose a poem, learn it by heart and perform it aloud. Established in 2012 by then Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, the competition attracts huge numbers of entries: over 1,600 schools took part; almost 60,000 poems were learned by heart; and there were over 4,300 video entries to the finals.
Congratulating Laurissa, and all the young performers taking part in the Poetry By Heart Grand Finale, poet and judge Daljit Nagra said, “As you stand on the stage here at Shakespeare’s Globe today, you are not just reciting verse, you are keeping alive the ancient dream of poetry as intrinsic to body and soul.”