Poetry competition established in memory of gifted young writer who died at 15

Oct 6 2010 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

WIRRAL’S next young poet laureate will be chosen through a poetry competition established in memory of a gifted young writer.

Chris Salmon, from Greasby, died suddenly in February 2009 at the age of 15 – just days after complaining of a headache.

His family say the Calday Grange Grammar School pupil was enthusiastic about poetry and after his death they found he had penned dozens of poems they knew nothing about.

The Chris Salmon Poetry Extravaganza is being organised by Wirral Library Service, the Wirral Alliance of Poets and the Chris Salmon Foundation, the charity his parents and brother Jonathan set up to fund research into the streptococcal virus which led to his death.

The overall winner will receive the Chris Salmon Cup and, as Young Poet Laureate, will be commissioned to write and read poems for public and civic events.

Chris’s mum Julie said former Scaffold member John Gorman had suggested the link with the Young Poet Laureate role.

She told the News: “We knew Chris had a love for poetry and after he died we found lots of poems he’d written.

“We wanted to do something in his memory and it was John Gorman’s idea to link it with the Poet Laureate role. One of my friends is a librarian at Greasby Library and it’s thanks to both her and John that it’s come to fruition.”