2009: Doubt

The 2009 competition theme was ‘Doubt’.  The record number of entrants, all born between 1990 and 1993 and representing every region in the UK, were inspired by the topic which included many diverse and thought-provoking interpretations including the use of sea and fog, hunger and juries, playing cards and bus stops as well as the inevitable, Thomas.  Seventeen-year old Timothy Carson from Sullivan Upper School, Belfast was awarded the £3000 first prize for his poem, Is Life Likely?

The judges included Jane Draycott, a UK-based poet with a particular interest in sound art, and collaborative and digital work, Daljit Nagra, winner of the Forward Poetry Prize in 2004 and 2007, and poet and lecturer Peter McDonald, Director of Tower Poetry.

Winning poems, press release and photographs 2009

2008: Change

The 2008 competition theme was ‘Change’.  The entrants, all born between 1989 and 1992 and representing every region in the UK, were inspired by the topic – submitting poems that offered a diversity of interpretations – from loose change; the ephemera of change; seasonal; evolutionary; personality change and more. Eighteen-year old Emily Middleton from The King’s School, Macclesfield was awarded the £3000 first prize for her poem, The Five Stages.

The judges included poet, Simon Armitage, Alan Jenkins, poet and Deputy Editor of The Times Literary Supplement, and poet and lecturer Peter McDonald, Director of Tower Poetry. Dr McDonald praised all the entrants for an astonishing diversity of talent, “The judges were particularly impressed by promise shown in the poems, where verbal flair and inventiveness were matched with impressive formal control.”

Winning poems, press release and photographs 2008

2007: Flight

Flying fish prove to be a valuable catch in major UK poetry competition

Is poetry a flourishing and popular art form in UK schools today? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’, judging by the winning poems in this year’s Christopher Tower poetry competition, the country’s most valuable poetry prize for sixth-form students.  The six top poems all showed startling originality, inventiveness, wit, and an assured mastery of form and imagery, but it was seventeen-year-old Charlotte Runcie of St Albans High School for Girls who fended off strong competition to scoop the £3,000 first prize with her poem, ‘Flying Fish’.
Winning poems, press release and photographs 2007

2006: A Building

Tower Poetry builds on success as top young UK poet scoops £3,000 first prize

The UK’s most valuable poetry prize for young people has been won by Colette Sensier of Varndean College, Brighton. Her poem, ‘Country House Communion’, secured the £3,000 Christopher Tower Poetry Prize in the face of strong competition this year from an impressive number of aspiring poets. At a reception for the prize winners at Christ Church, Dr Peter McDonald, the college’s Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry, praised the formal control and variety of all the winning poems, and spoke of how “once again the Tower Prizes have shown that young people can write poems of startling intelligence and originality, with the kinds of creative independence too often lacking in contemporary British poetry.”
Winning poems, press release and photographs 2006

2005: Gravity

Sixth-form student Eleanor Williams has won the £1,500 first prize in this year's competition, which was judged by Philip Pullman, Gillian Clarke and Peter McDonald. At a reception for the prize winners at Christ Church, Oxford, Dr Peter McDonald, poet and Tutor in Poetry at Christ Church, spoke of his admiration for the winning poets: "Every year, the judges are surprised and encouraged by the skill and creativity of the winning poems, and this year is no exception; the work we are celebrating today shows adventurousness and confidence, as well as impressive maturity in the handling of poetic forms and styles".
Winning poems, press release and photographs 2005

2004: "Early Morning"

Katherine Hindley of South Hampstead High School, London, was the winner of the Christopher Tower poetry competition in 2004 with her poem 'Sunrise in Egypt'. Katherine won a cheque for £1500, while the second and third prize-winners, Nancy Freeman from London and Laura Tisdall from Bradfield-on-Avon, each won£750 and £500 respectively.
Winning poems and photographs 2004.

2003: "Passport"

"The judges were very impressed by the standard of this year's poems. We read some strikingly original treatments of the passport – some literal, others metaphorical – which show how subtle and thought-provoking young people's thoughts on this subject can be." - Dr Peter McDonald.
The Winning Poems 2003. Press release (from University of Oxford)

2002: "Floods"

In its second year the competition challenged students between 16-18 from schools and colleges throughout the UK to write a poem on the theme of ‘floods’. Dr Peter McDonald said: "The winning and short-listed poems display many kinds of imaginative resource, and show how good young writers can rise to the challenges of the kind which this competition sets"
The Winning Poems 2002

2001: "Blue"