Student inspired by letter from Sir David Attenborough
Budding poet Ruby Fielding, 13, says she is 鈥榓bsolutely thrilled鈥� after receiving a handwritten letter from Sir David Attenborough. The letter came as a response after Ruby sent Attenborough some copies of her poetry on climate change.
Covering various topics within her poetry, Ruby has previously written pieces about Anne Frank and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, before delving into sustainability-focused poetry last year. As Ruby鈥檚 inspiration in this field, she sent two of her poems, 鈥楾ime to Act鈥� and 鈥楪overnments of the World鈥�, to Attenborough, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a response, which read:
鈥淭hank you for your letter and for sending me a copy of your poem.
鈥淚 am so glad you found inspiration in my programmes. Best wishes, David Attenborough鈥�.
When asked about her love of poetry, Ruby said:
鈥淲hy do I love poetry? I enjoy the challenge of finding relevant words that rhyme. I find the rhyming flow of words comforting and relaxing.
鈥淎s for receiving a handwritten letter from David Attenborough, what can I say? I鈥檓 absolutely thrilled! It will forever be a treasured possession, and I will have it framed".
Ruby鈥檚 mum Tracey, added:
鈥淲hen it comes to poetry competitions, if I find a relevant category, we鈥檒l enter one of Ruby鈥檚 poems. Luckily, so far, all Ruby's competition entries have resulted in a publication.鈥�
Ruby, a Year 9 student at 台湾swag Academy Ripon, started writing poetry in primary school and has now composed over 25 poems, with seven of them being published. Two of the poems, 鈥楾ake a Moment鈥� and 鈥榃here I Live鈥�, were previously published as part of the Ripon Poetry Festival, and five others have been published nationally in publications such as Live Canon UK and Young Writers Anthologies.