Poetry pair strike gold!
Brothers earn Commonwealth prizes with verses about the pandemic
TWO young brothers have struck gold after turning their pandemic experiences into poems for a Commonwealth writing competition.
Eight-year-old Micah Oluyinka, of Hanley, was so keen to test his creative writing skills he scoured the internet for challenges to enter.
The Forest Park Primary pupil stumbled across the oldest international writing competition, which dates back to 1883 and attracts people from dozens of countries.
Now Micah’s poem about what he missed the most during the pandemic has earned him a gold certificate in the Royal Commonwealth Society initiative.
And the same award has also gone to his 10-year-old brother Gabriel, who based his entry on how to explain Covid-19 to people in the year 2050.
Their mum Fay Kruger-oluyinka said: “I was really impressed. Globally, more than 25,000 children took part and only 171 obtained gold.”
She described her sons as ‘proud Stokies’ who were keen to represent the Potteries on the world stage.
The 36-year-old, who works for TJX Europe, added: “They were born here and love Stokeon-trent. I’m from South Africa originally and my husband Seyi is Nigerian British. It’s quite cute because we are all part of the Commonwealth.”
The brothers missed out on being crowned overall winners, which would have earned them a trip to Buckingham Palace. But they are still ecstatic at beating thousands of other young writers.
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition was split into two age categories – the under-14s and 14 to 18-year-olds. Young people could choose their writing format, with the overall theme being based on ‘community in the Commonwealth’.
Micah said: “I think I did so well because I was being honest about it and made my poem personal. I wrote about missing my friends and family and also activities.”
One of the hardest things was not being able to see his grandmother during lockdown.
Micah has always enjoyed writing and is now part-way through his entry for another competition.
“I want to be an author when I’m older,” he said. “I would like to write scripts for films and shows.”
Gabriel, who also attends Forest Park Primary, nearly didn’t enter the challenge as he feared he wouldn’t do well in it. He said: “I’m very proud to get gold.
In my poem, I put in stuff about the end of lockdown and home learning. It was really hard for me to write because it was emotional.”
Their older brother, 12-year-old Samuel, has also been cheering on their efforts.
A Royal Commonwealth Society spokesman said: “The QCEC 2021 was especially competitive, with over 25,648 young people submitting an entry and sharing their ideas with our Commonwealth family.
“Thank you, and a tremendous well done, to all those who entered.”