Lula, Year 7, has won the second prize in The Chaucer Heritage Trust’s The Canterbury Tales Writing Competition 2022-23. The special theme of the competition this year was ‘Promises, promises!’

The nationwide competition was the sixth annual writing competition for schools inspired by the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, considered by many to be England’s greatest medieval poet. Year 7 students study Chaucer as part of their History of English unit, and all students were encouraged to enter a poem or short story into the competition.

Lula was thrilled to win, and we are very proud of her for this fantastic achievement. The award includes £500 for the school library.

Here is Lula’s poem, entitled ‘The Showers’

“We’re taking you to the showers!” the soldier said.
He was a young one, his cheeks a rosy red,
But he was still to blame –
He took everything from them, even their names.
The second soldier was extremely tall,
He was the one who led the roll call.
The third one had a golden tooth –
He was the one who beat up Ruth.
The fourth always held a cigar –
It was he who took Ester away from her Pa.
The fifth had cabbagey ears that stuck out
He very much liked to scream and shout.
The sixth had a dog with a vicious bark
His heart was cold and his eyes were dark.
They led the women to a building block,
Then all the doors were bolted, locked.
Stripped from her rags,
Ester started to flag
Her legs felt unstable
To calm her, she recalled Chaucer’s fables.
Entering the shower room, she thought of the Wife of Bath,
But as they handed out soap, the soldiers laughed.
“We’re taking you to the showers!” they had said.
As the gas was released, Ester stared at the sea of shaved heads.
She watched them dying with her sad grey eyes
And as more collapsed, she let out a sigh.
“We’re taking you to the showers!” the soldiers had said –
But there Ester lay, poisoned and dead.