The Hackney Schools Poet Laureate programme is steadily becoming a tradition, with talented young poets already battling for the 2010 crown.

Poets from Hackney secondary schools and academies wrote on the theme of 'Heroes and Heroines' to compete for the title of Hackney Schools’ Poet Laureate.

Kirsten Tadique from Our Lady’s Convent High School was the overall winner with her thought-provoking poem, ‘Hero of the Dying Days’. Kirsten and the other finalists, (from Cardinal Pole, Hackney Free, Bridge Academy and Clapton Girls’), will be part of this programme for the next year, and will be developing their poetry writing and performance skills with published poets from The Poetry Society and commemorating significant occasions in their schools and in Hackney by writing and performing their own specially commissioned work.

You can find out about last year’s poets here...