A teenager from Carlisle has been named one of the world's best young poets.

Ruby Evans, 16, has beaten more than 6,000 other young wordsmiths to become a top 15 winner in one of the world's largest literary competitions.

Sixth-former Ruby, a year 12 student at the city's Trinity School, was honoured at the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2017 ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Judges Sinéad Morrissey and Kayo Chingonyi chose 15 winners and 85 commended poets from over 6,000 entries and over 11,000 poems.

Writers from 89 different countries entered the competition including Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Syria and Zimbabwe.

Ruby said: "I’ve been writing my own poetry for just over a year now, and in this time I’ve read at local venues in Carlisle and had work published as part of a local film festival.

"I’ve also written reviews for HappenStance Press, which can be found on their Sphinx reviews website.

"I’ve had an interest in reading poetry, both contemporary and otherwise, for much longer, though."

The young poet says influences on her writing include Kim Moore’s The Art of Falling and Basil Bunting’s Briggflatts."

Ruby's poem is entitled "St Helen's, Washington".


St. Helens, Washington

Under 17 days

of ash, Robert Landsburg

rises and wipes

dust from his backpack.

Unwraps his camera; unwinds

film from its casing.

He’s up on shaking legs;

begins to click the shutter

release,

as the cloud of black

and heat recedes,

and the air shrieks.

He stands and watches

as the mountain

implodes.