Wow, so six months has flown by just like that and I find myself writing my final post as BookTrust’s Writer in Residence.
Writer in Residence Matt Goodfellow announces the winners of his competition – and says goodbye
23 February 2026
As Matt Goodfellow’s time as our Writer in Residence comes to an end, he reflects on his time in the role – and shares some brilliant poetry from children.
Image: Chris Close
Matt Goodfellow is BookTrust’s current Writer in Residence
Image: Chris Close
What an absolute pleasure it’s been to discuss my theme of voice and choice with some of my very favourite authors – a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to speak to me.
It’s incredible to have a platform like this to talk about issues really dear to my heart – a big thank you to all the team at BookTrust for making it happen!
Celebrating young people’s voices
What a beautiful thing it is to have a final post that celebrates the voices and choices of our young people.
We had a huge amount of entries to the poetry competition in both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3, so thank you to everyone who entered, and to all the adults in schools that were able to find some time to let the young people articulate their thoughts, feelings and ideas.
As ever, judging a competition like this is incredibly difficult, so I did what I always do – I picked poems that made me feel something, that moved me.
Florence, Year 6
Congratulations to Florence in Year 6, who is the winner of the Key Stage 2 competition. This poem was bursting with confidence and swagger, both in words and how the poem was presented.
![Myself
My name's Florence
I like ballet
I am
Competitive
But in a subtle way
I go from the studio
To the stage too
Because this is what I like to do
I Was born on
stage [some people say]
I try my best
But I do it my way
But best of all
I'm up for any challenge any where
Bring it on](https://files.booktrust.org.uk/docs/imager/images/276255/florence-poem-2_240b62cf9eb67fe203d15067047501a2.jpg)
Jeyanisha, Year 7
Jeyanisha in Year 7 wins our Key Stage 3 competition with a quiet, thoughtful poem. The last verse absolutely blew me away. You’ll see what I mean.
It was too painful to watch,
So, tears blurred our eyes,
Walking past the memories,
For one last time,
Theres not much time left,
Every second my heart aching,
Tick tock tick tock,
Although,
Good byes don’t last forever,
But they could,
What do you want to be …,
Says the echoes in my head,
It’s not what i want to be,
It’s who i want to be,
I want to be Ava’s courage,
Isla’s bravery,
Jennifer’s kindness,
Gabija’s respect,
What I want the most is to be my best friend’s laughter,
What you want to be,
Is a tricky question indeed,
Thanks again to everyone that entered the competitions and for all of you that have engaged with my posts as Writer in Residence. I’ve had a blast.
- Matt
Writer in Residence
Stay up to date with everything Matt Goodfellow gets up to during his time as our Writer in Residence.
Take a look