The Launch of Anthology 2023

In a noisy world it is a rare pleasure to take an hour or so to be still, quiet and really listen but every year, this is what the launch of the Anthology provides for its guests.   
 
Now in publication for over a decade, the Anthology has become a KES – and a Bath – institution, celebrating the incredible talent of our pupils who never fail to produce writing that, quite simply, must be published.   
 
Through the collaboration between the Art and English departments, the winning entries from our poetry, short story and journalism competition’s work is paired with our pupils’ artwork to produce this unique publication celebrating the best of King Edward’s creativity. This year’s poetry and short story competitions took pupils in potentially antithetical directions, from ‘The Environment’ to what is ‘Buried’ around or within us. The journalism competition, whose winning entries are published in the Anthology for the first time, invited pupils to enter works of non-fiction on their choice of topic. 
 
For this year’s launch event we returned to the school library, a fitting space to launch the publication of this unique volume. Over a dozen pupils read poems and extracts from their short stories and Joseph Walker, ahead of a trip to Finland next year to gain a better understanding of their education system, read his winning piece of journalism: ‘Should the UK adopt Finland’s Education System?’ 
 
Luke Palmer, our short story judge, commented on the ‘poise and craft’ of entrants’ work, how familiar genres were made ‘fresh and new’ and how the best pieces were ‘truly transportive’ and as Editor, I’ve been struck by the imagination, eloquence and originality of our pupils’ writing and art work and the expert pairing of them by the Anthology's Art Editor, Head of Art, Ed Hume-Smith, so it was a real privilege to bring these accomplished writers and artists together for an evening which honoured the breadth of talent in our midst.    

 
Zeynep Kayacan (Head of English)