Talented girl, 15, wins regional poem contest

Emily Henman-Green, 15, was chosen as the winner of a competition run by the York branch of the national bereavement charity Cruse for her poem “Smile”.

Judges praised her work for its “depth of feeling and strength of expression.”

Emily, who is from Queen Ethelburga’s College, at Thorpe Underwood Estate, near York, will now read her poem at the Christmas Cruse event at York’s Central Methodist Church on Friday, December 16. She will be alongside guests including best-selling author Gervase Phinn.

She has been writing since the age of six but said this was the first competition that she had won for her poetry.

She said: “When I was little I started writing songs – just the lyrics, never the music, then I did short stories but it is poems that I really love.

“I tend to write a poem once or twice a week depending on what inspires me.” She added: “I suppose at 15 I haven’t experienced much in life but people tend to say my work is very emotive and I am very honest and soul-searching in it.”

The proceeds from the Christmas Cruse event will go towards the training of local bereavement volunteers and supervisors for the counselling of both adults and children