King’s Ely Sixth Form student, Eliza Spooner, has been announced a winner in this year’s Stephen Spender Prize.

Eliza, who is in Year 12, is delighted to be a joint winner of the “16-and-Under” category of the prestigious poetry and translation competition, which is organised annually by The Stephen Spender Trust.

Eliza, who is studying Latin, History and Further Mathematics for her A-Levels, has achieved this success for her excellent translation of the Latin poem, ‘Catullus 4’, written by the celebrated Roman poet, Gaius Valerius Catullus.

This year’s competition attracted entries in more than 90 different languages; ancient and modern. Candidates were asked to submit an English translation of a published poem from any language, together with a commentary of no more than 300 words.

 

 

‘Catullus 4’ and Eliza’s translation have been published in the 2022 Stephen Spender Prize booklet. You can also read them here: www.stephen-spender.org

The Stephen Spender Trust was founded in 1997 by Spender’s widow, Natasha, to honour his achievements as a poet and translator of poetry, and as a champion of the rights of creative artists and writers to free expression.

The Trust works to widen knowledge of 20th Century English Literature, with a particular focus on Spender’s circle of writers, and to promote literary translation among all ages and social groups.

Congratulations Eliza, what a super achievement!

Back to all news