CLiPPA 2019: The power of poetry
School children, poets and industry gathered at the National Theatre for a celebration of the power of poetry and the announcement of the 2019 CLiPPA winning poet.
The ALCS-sponsored afternoon event included brilliant performances from the winning schools which participated in the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award (CLiPPA) shadowing scheme.
Steven Camden was named this year’s winner for his emotionally charged and powerful poetry collection, Everything All at Once (Macmillan Children’s Books). Eloise Greenfield was highly commended by the judges for her collection Thinker: My Puppy Poet and Me (Tiny Owl).
A F Harrold, Chair of Judges for CLiPPA 2019 said of Everything All at Once:
“Steven’s collection has so many things to recommend it, not only the mastery of our living written/spoken language but also an intense insight into the heart of a secondary school – the nuances and face slaps of being that age, of tiptoeing or pratfalling through that environment. The heartaches and the anxieties, the laughs, the embarrassments and the low slants of daylight. It’s as much a guidebook to navigating those tricky waters as it is a record of what he’s seen. A copy of this should be given to every kid about to go up to secondary school.
Louise Johns-Shepherd, Chief Executive at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) said:
“Through our research and work with schools at CLPE, we regularly see the transformative power of poetry on children’s engagement with reading and writing. Poetry allows children to see things from the perspective of others, to form opinions and be reflective, to understand how language is used for effect and to show them that they too can have a voice, through writing poetry of their own. CLiPPA champions children’s poetry because we believe it is absolutely fundamental to their literacy development and we want children to have access to the best poetry from the earliest age. Steven Camden’s collection brings us the some of the finest poetry for young people. Eloquent and complex as well as engaging and accessible, it shows the power of poetry to take the reader on an emotional journey towards adulthood.”
ALCS is delighted to be a sponsor of CLiPPA again this year. Through our sponsorship we have shared important copyright education resources with schools participating in the CLiPPA shadowing scheme across the country, and we are thrilled to be able to support an award that is dedicated to encouraging children to embrace reading and writing.
For further information about the CLiPPA awards, please visit:
You can find free downloadable copies of our copyright education resources here.
