Record number of entrants for pupil poetry competition in Coronavirus lockdown

The Mother Tongue Other Tongue prize giving ceremony in 2019. This year's competition was held virtually.

Schoolchildren are being celebrated for their poems that chronicle life in lockdown for a national award-winning multilingual poetry competition.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) is an annual poetry contest for pupils run by the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and languages consortium Routes Into Languages. It was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize at Buckingham Palace earlier this year – the highest national honour awarded to UK colleges and universities.

The project encourages children who speak a community language at home to celebrate their ‘mother tongue’ by writing a poem in it, and for pupils learning a new language at school to write a poem in their ‘other tongue’.

Despite Coronavirus-enforced school closures, this year saw a record 2300 entries to the competition.

There are 25 winners in the ‘Other Tongue’ category, and another seven in the ‘Mother Tongue’ group. Winners are selected in four different age categories, spanning ages 8-18. Submissions were written in 32 different languages, including French, German, Czech, Vietnamese, Hindi, Sinhala, Telugu, Yoruba, Afrikaans and Mandarin.

 A winning prose poem in the 'Other Tongue' category by Year 7 pupil Oliver Crotty:

Un momento problemático para muchos, un momento aterrador para algunos. . La NHS y los trabajadores clave trabajan día y noche, pero reciben un aplauso el jueves por la noche a las 8 pm; son más que solo civiles. Uno muere para salvar cien más. La lista es infinita del apoyo de la nación a los demás. La soledad y la depresión están en aumento. ¿Qué más podemos hacer sino esperar un poco más? Asia a Europa a América del Norte y del Sur. ¿Dónde detendrá este enemigo su terror y destrucción final? Debemos recordar que todos estamos en la misma situación y estamos juntos en esto. Somos hojas del mismo árbol y flores del mismo jardín.

Dr Yasmin Hussain, Faculty Outreach Manager, and organiser of MTOT, said: “Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a fantastic project, and winning this year’s Queen’s Anniversary Prize has been a great honour. The competition is unique as it allows pupils to use their bilingualism creatively and to explore their multiple identities through culture, poetry and language. Being multilingual has many advantages and it’s great that pupils learn to value this early on in their lives.

“I am pleased that despite the current uncertainty and challenges schools are facing, they have responded positively to the Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition. We received a record number of entries this year, which just shows important and valuable poetry is to young people, to express and make sense of the world at a time of crisis.”

Poets from the University’s Manchester Writing School usually host writing workshops in schools, encouraging students to enter MTOT. This year, workshops were held virtually for children to participate at home.

Translation of Oliver Crotty's prose poem:

A difficult time for many, a terrifying time for some. The NHS and key workers work day and night, but get applause Thursday night at 8; they are more than just civilians. One dies to save a hundred more. The list is never-ending of the support from a nation for others. Loneliness and depression are growing. What can we do but wait a bit longer? Asia to Europe to North and South America. Where will this enemy end its terror and final destruction? We must remember that we are all in the same situation, and we are together in this. We are leaves of the same tree and flowers of the same garden.

Danny Hewitt, a teacher from participating school All Saints Catholic High in Rossendale, Lancashire said: “Writing poetry during lockdown has been a real confidence booster for the students. It has allowed pupils to express their creativity in another language and it was interesting to see the themes of nature and communication featuring heavily as they have been key to this lockdown period.”

Winning students will be invited to the University’s new Manchester Poetry Library when it opens in early 2021, which will also hold an anthology of their poems. The MTOT team and Manchester Poetry Library will be working together to offer additional support and resources to the winning schools to inspire more pupils to enjoy writing poetry.

Writing poetry during lockdown has been a real confidence booster for the students. It has allowed pupils to express their creativity in another language

Created by Professor Carol Ann Duffy, Creative Director of the University’s Manchester Writing School and Professor Sharon Handley, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Metropolitan and Director of the North West Consortium of Routes into Languages, MTOT has engaged more than 30,000 students since 2012.

Visit the Mother Tongue Other Tongue website to read an anthology of all of this year's winning poems.