RHS students Poppy Crossland (Year 13) and Ruby Murphy (Year 11) had the opportunity to go to Dublin last week to attend the prize-giving ceremony for the university’s prestigious annual poetry competition.

The poetry competition was inspired by the Book of Kells, which is kept on display at Trinity College Dublin. Regarded as one of the great mediaeval treasures of Europe, It is an ancient illuminated manuscript of the Gospels written in 800 A.D. by Celtic monks.  The theme of the poetry competition was to write about animals in the Book of Kells.

Poppy won first prize of 400 Euro, and Ruby was highly commended. The students were given a tour of the famous library and a chance to see the manuscript close up!

Ruby was in the final of the Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate last month, and last year won the Rupert Brooke poetry competition run by Rugby School. Poppy has won many awards for her poetry, including the Holocaust Memorial Day Poetry prize 2019, which means she will have a chance to visit Bosnia. Olga Dermott-Bond, Head of English, commented: “I am so thrilled for Poppy and Ruby, who are both truly talented writers. At RHS we are committed to celebrating creativity, the power of the imagination, and the written word”

Poppy said, “'It was a fantastic evening and we had a great time seeing all of the amazing art and creative writing the Book of Kells had inspired people to create. A definite highlight was seeing the statue of "Shakefpear" in the long room!'