Every year, UoR students are invited to explore their creative side by entering the Raymond Wilson Poetry Competition. Held in memory of the late brilliant educationalist and Emeritus Professor of Education at Reading, the prize awards £200 for the winning poem.
This year’s winner, James Lloyd, is a Postgraduate Research student within the Classics department of the University of Reading. James’s poem, ‘April Shower’, describes in humorous detail the many things we can forget when April Showers strike. A poem like this helps make learning engaging, whilst also reflecting the daily amusements and challenge that children encounter in their gradual assimilation into the big wide world.
James Lloyd said:
“I am delighted to have won the 2017-18 Raymond Wilson prize. Thank you to everyone involved in the competition, especially the school children who helped to choose it! I hope that the poem has raised a few smiles, umbrellas, and hoods.”
Stephanie Sharp, the organiser of the competition at the IOE, commented:
“Children liked it because they understood it and thought that children everywhere would enjoy it.”
The competition is judged by children in a local school and their vote carries equal weight with Stephanie. This brings the perspectives of teacher, writer and young reader to bear on the judging.
Raymond Wilson was an exceptional educationalist, as well as an inspired educational editor who introduced new editions of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poetry and Jane Austen’s novels. Wilson was also well-known as an intuitive, sensitive critic and a prolific anthologist.
More information: s.sharp@reading.ac.uk(ext 2675).
THE WINNING POEM
April Shower
When you hear the rumbling
Of storm clouds in the skies,
And rain drops come a tumbling,
And puddles start to rise,
You’ll wish you’d not forgot
To wear your anorak,
or have your favourite brolly
Stowed in your school rucksack.
So when you hear the rumbling
Of storm clouds in the skies,
And rain drops come a tumbling,
And puddles start to rise,
From their pitter patter
You’ll have no need to cower,
Because you’re well prepared
For this April shower.
James Lloyd, 2018