COBIS Poetry Competition 2018
Through a Looking Glass
For 2018, the theme for the COBIS Poetry Competition was "Through a Looking Glass".
Students were invited to write an original poem to reflect the theme and show how they identify with it.
Schools could submit three entries in each category so many schools ran an internal competition and submitted the winning three entries to the COBIS competition. We received 372 entries from 80 schools in total. Well done to all who entered, our judges thoroughly enjoyed reading all your excellent poems!
The winners are listed below; to read their poems, please click on their names.
Category A: 10 yrs and under
Winner: Arysha Haya Kanda, The British School of Kuala Lumpur
"Great use of rhyme and an exciting story that made me want to keep reading."
Runner Up: Olivia Sell, GEMS Jumeirah Primary School
"A bitter sweet poem, the looking glass reflecting and magnifying moments and feelings beautifully."
Category B: 11-14 yrs
Winner: Tamara Almoayed, The British School of Bahrain
"Cleverly written to highlight so many of the important issues facing the world."
Runner Up: Oresti Bakali, Campion School
"A thought-provoking journey with a profound message."
Category C: 15-19 yrs
Winner: Lamees Abu Saad, International Community School, Amman
"Such a powerful poem, beautifully written with an important message. I loved it."
Runner Up: Sara Urso, The British School Alexandria
"So insightful, really evocative and thought-provoking."
Prizes:
The winning entries have been published in First News. "As a weekly newspaper for young people, First News has a mission to raise the voices of children. Writing poetry is a fantastic way for children to express themselves, whether that’s coming to terms with difficult emotions, raising their views on a subject that matters to them or crafting words to describe a beautiful or awe-inspiring scene. We are delighted to support this competition and to showcase the talents of young poets around the world."
To see the published poems on the First News website, please click here.
Judges:
COBIS would like to thank all who helped judge the poetry competition this year, including teachers from COBIS schools across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East – your help is invaluable and we truly appreciate the time and effort you put into marking the poems.
We would also like to thank Keilly Swift, the Managing Editor at First News, who was very impressed by the calibre of the entries; the quotes above are from her.
Once again, the success of the COBIS Poetry Competition is dependent upon the help of external judges so we are very grateful to all involved.
COBIS would like to thank Supporting Member, First News for sponsoring the Poetry Competition 2018.
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