This year’s Morison Verse Competition, involving Years 7 and 8, took place on Wednesday 20th April.

Organised by the English Department, the audience spent an afternoon listening to and watching a wide selection of poetry recitations and performances. Over twenty Year 7 girls recited published poems, ranging from A.A. Milne’s ‘Disobedience’ and Spike Milligan’s ‘Silly Old Baboon’ to Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et decorum est’. Meanwhile, over twenty-five Year 8 girls were involved in group performances of self-penned ballads.

Our judges, Miss Ivison and Ms Leaf, faced a difficult decision when it came to selecting winners. In Year 7, Eloise Patterson was winner of the best individual recitation for her performance of Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Jabberwocky’. Runners up were Kayla Gal with her recitation of ‘The Pig’ by Roald Dahl, Emily Fox for her recitation of ‘The Dishes are Done’ by Ronnie Doe amd Lily Leaver for her recitation of ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath. In Year 8, Lucrezia Galli, Lana Stewart and Isabella Wharton won the prize for best performed group ballad, while Sara Getter’s ‘Beyond the Sun’ was named best self-penned ballad. Celeste Colin’s ‘The Chocolate Cake’ was runner up, both for best self-penned ballad and best performed group ballad, with the performance involving Celeste, Marnie Brighton, Nellie Gawne and Martha Inglis.

It was an excellent and enriching afternoon celebrating the best of our girls’ creativity and literary sensitivity.