Folio 2025 – A celebration of writing

Head of English, Ms Lucinda Gilchrist, introduced this year’s Folio contributors to a large audience gathered in the Rutherford Theatre yesterday ( 2 December) and, in her opening remarks, recalled the words of former Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, at a recent school trip to Poetry Live who said ‘poetry is the music of human experience’. This year’s entries to The Folio certainly embody that, with work exploring the symbolism of empty bookcases or chalkboards, the re-telling of legends, defining love and fame.

In her foreward for this year’s Folio anthology, Fionnuala Kennedy said ‘There is a place for poetry in this world…. At a time when funding for the creative arts is being systematically cut or even withdrawn, in schools, in theatres and in local communities…..this is where we must battle, with determined hearts and minds to cling on to the humanity and beaty of art forms such as poetry.”

This was a sentiment echoed by alumna Melody Wilson who gave the keynote speech. Melody left Wimbledon High in 2023, and is an actor currently in her second year of study at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Melody wrote an essay on different stage and screen interpretations of Hamlet’s madness for the Folio in 2022. She discussed the potential impact of AI on the creative arts, but reflected that AI could not replicate the authentic ideas or opinions that this year’s Folio cohort themselves had. She explained how lucky she felt to have been given so many opportunities in school to write creatively, beyond the constraints of the curriculum or the mark-scheme – to write simply for the impulse and love of writing.

And for those looking forward already to Folio 2026…

Jane Austen 250^th Anniversary Competition

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, and therefore in 2025 Janeites across the globe are celebrating her life and works. At Wimbledon High, we are marking the occasion by encouraging all Y10 students to enter our Jane Austen competition. Deadline – Friday 5 December –  all entries will be recognised, with prizes for Best Entry, Highly Commended and Commended and the chance to appear in Folio 2026.