Radley-Desborough Creative Writing Exchange
2021-22
Exchange organised and collection edited by: Mr James Sheldrake & Miss Lauren Humphreys
Contents Denzel Abia, Janek Czarnomski, Ben de Laszlo
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Hamza Farooq, John Barnes, Ben Glassey
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Ben de Laszlo
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William Dykes, Samuel Holliday, DingDing Zhou
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Dylan Saini, Max Eze, Theodore Tomalin
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Ben Glassey
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George Lindgren
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Boaz May
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Dylan Saini
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George Lindgren, Ben Stephenson
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DingDing Zhou
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The Canterbury Tales – 2022 Section 1 Hamza Farooq and Janek Czarnomski
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Section 2 DingDing Zhou and John Barnes
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Section 3 William Dykes and Samuel Holliday
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Plumber Jonah Rozputynski and Boaz May
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Chef George Lindgren and Dylan Saini
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Soldier Theodore Tomalin and Denzel Abia
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Lawyer
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Foreword Four times this last academic year, a group of selected Shells from Radley College have met a group of Year 9s from Desborough College to write together. Two sessions ‘in real life’, two online. This has meant that boys have had to keep the skills going of meeting new people online and striking up relationships in a virtual format. In the first session of the year, Lauren asked them to write a Sestina – a poetic form with strict rules about half a dozen words being the ends of successive lines in various patterns. In the first online session, I asked them to write 100 words about something that brought them joy. Next time, Lauren asked them to write a social media speech about what young people need to hear now. Finally, I asked them to write different sections of a modern version of The Canterbury Tales. I have done that session every year but I am delighted to be able to include the whole thing for the first time at the end of this anthology. Thanks are due to many. At Radley, to John Sparks who runs Partnerships with vigour and generosity and to Alex Nash, Head of English, who has supported this venture as part of a renaissance of creative writing in the department. At Desborough, Lauren Humphreys, my opposite number, who has helped this collaboration go from strength to strength and to Trevor Crook who has ferried boys up from Desborough with seemingly unfailing enthusiasm. Final thanks are to the boys, who engaged with this all with terrific good humour. For various reasons, this is the last iteration of this project, so this anthology takes on meaning as a kind of memorial the four years of its success. You will see that our Canterbury Tales is unfinished, like Chaucer’s original. That is rather fitting: collaboration and creativity are not a journey towards some endpoint. Instead, the journey is the destination: eternal and infinite. James Sheldrake, June 2022
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Denzel Abia, Janek Czarnomski, Ben de Laszlo Darkness into light Blackness scattered by the sun’s rise There was nothing but growth Brightness soaring Darkness put to rest Gloom put to an end. Sky unending Pink clouds lightened Darkness put to rest. The sun, once rising, Now soaring The world started to grow. The dry land grew Eternal oceans ending. The rocks soaring, Breaking the seas like light; Broke the rise, At rest.
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Hamza Farooq, John Barnes, Ben Glassey Once, there was peace. Nothing but beauty and innocent life A universe filled with joy Every molecule born anew. Not a trace of darkness, just light This was the beginning of the world. And from this birthed more than you could imagine; world upon worlds For a time, there was no conflict, no war, only peace. Every galaxy teaming with light And there was nothing, nothing more precious than life, For life was new. For life was meaning and joy However, soon there was a want to diminish light, To extinguish joy. A desire to end life. A birth of war on each world. And suddenly, there was no peace. The demolishing of the principles we once knew.
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Ben de Laszlo You decide the future. You are the future. You are the next generation. You can choose what direction this world travels in. You can break down barriers, you can tear down walls. You can choose between apocalypse or utopia. With great power comes great responsibility, and no one holds greater power than you. Never forget that it doesn’t matter where you came from, it matters where you’re going. You, and you only hold the fate of the world in your hands. People will listen to you, because you are the voice of the future. When you feel like giving up, remember why you started. Make choices through your values, not through greed. Do what is right, not what is beneficial to you. Above all, remember who you are, and who you want to become.
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William Dykes, Samuel Holliday, DingDing Zhou The city covered in layers of pain Generations of citizens gone From the river of flames Buildings left bathed in destruction Centuries of civilisation engulfed With smoke and dead ashes. Natural life covered in ash Surrounded by waves of pain Heartbroken memories of life engulfed Shrouded by thoughts of the gone Rubble and debris, evidence of the destruction Showered with the rain of flames In the shadow of the flames Lies the sea of ashes Enveloped in a globe of destruction Radiating rays of pain All joyful moments gone Light and brightness engulfed.
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Dylan Saini, Max Eze, Theodore Tomalin Creation of life The spawn of nature Happiness coming from birth Atmosphere filled with the scent of fruit Looking around me, I feel so new. All I see are creative colours. My eyes were mesmerised by the vivacious, flooding colours The undergrowth was rife with life; The dawn of the new. Flowers bloomed, the beauty of nature, But among the moss towered the slender trees bearing ripe fruit; Life was birthed. And I stood in amaze at the birth, Colour after beautiful colour, Gazing at the bright lights of exotic fruits. And the glowing colours lit up a pathway of life. A pathway filled with nature, Leading to new.
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Ben Glassey Green shields of armour wait for the opportunity to strike. Silky smooth scales glide elegantly cross the floorboards. Thousands upon thousands of details, some big, some small. At the end of the beautiful beast lies a powerful ingenious tongue with a split end. The sweetness of the air is a lullaby to the creatures that rest in the waves and curls. One might think that it is out of place but it feels like it somehow belongs all around, like an omniscient being. Although large, it possesses the strange ability to be as agile as anything with infinitely strong muscles.
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George Lindgren So soft, so white, so perfect in every way. The joy it brings is uncontested, no one nor thing can hold the power to bring me as much joy as this. The perfect size, with the most amazing looks, the ability to brighten anyone’s day, no matter the circumstances. She greets everyone with energy and love no matter who it is. She’s calm when necessary but always up for a game she never complains, no matter the circumstances, and takes everything in her stride. I don’t know what I would do without her: life would just be dull and sad.
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Boaz May Unlimited. Interchangeable. The fine haired brush flew across the page. A skater on ice it was. Behind it on the rough canvas there miraculously appeared…colour. Out of nowhere it trailed following the path of the brush like a newborn lamb follows its mother. The colours weaved. Twisted they filled and outlined massive areas at a time. They were no longer brushes and colours and paint – they were an army, an enormous unit that all had a sole purpose and this brush was the commanding officer. Together they were one and without one there was no painting. Unlimited. Interchangeable.
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Dylan Saini Why do we need to take control of our futures? Well at this moment in time you do not know what will happen in the future for you but there is certainly a way to create a path for your future by planning and taking control of it. Of course, your plan will not go always as expected but there is no way to change this, you have to be prepared for this to happen. But you cannot let people decide your future for you as you may have different ideas of what you want to do with your life, for example: what job you want or what subjects you want to study. If you have not thought about your future its never too late to start. You must smoothly glide through your life without looking back because there is no way of changing the past. YOU must make sure there is always a bright future ahead of you, so grasp your future and do not let it be taken from you.
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George Lindgren, Ben Stephenson Why put him through such pain? It fills me with so much anger My eyes are starting to fear What was there I could do? There was no way I couple help As I buried her, I could only reflect. I’m busy, reflecting. In my heart, there was a sharp pain That job would be so much help As well as pain, there’s deep, dark anger Really, what else should I do? I felt it again. My eyes full of tears. My house was easy for the fire to tear The mirror on the wall was cracked and reflecting My past-self who would know what to do My house and my heart ablaze in pain The fire was a perfect reflection of my anger I was alone. No one to help. Please, I need help. I felt a tear. I was now beyond anger. How did I get to this stage? I need to reflect. I could see the damage, but there was no pain. There was nothing left for the doctors to do.
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DingDing Zhou Showers of droplets, cascading down onto my body as I swim stroke after stroke. I glimpse an approaching opponent, and my adrenaline kicks in. My heart rate rapidly ascends as my muscles tense. The flags appear in front of me. A sense of urgency boils in my chest as the opponent approaches closer. Inch by inch, he draws closer to me. The poolside is less than a metre away. I catch a glimpse of his arm extending out to the poolside, but it’s gone in a flash as I make the final stroke. I look up. Silence. Applause. I’ve won.
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The Canterbury Tales – 2022 Section 1 Hamza Farooq and Janek Czarnomski Surrounded by the pitch-black night They all arrived by foot A likely pub in between them Black, as if smeared with soot Hear the chatter from miles away Entering the bright lights The smell of beer clouded the air Hear the shrieks of the fight
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Section 2 DingDing Zhou and John Barnes The men were there, they sat, they drank, A drunk soldier there was. He had a little too much fun Now in his head a fuzz. The landlord strolled over to them His fat faced puffed out red Droplets of booze hung on his head “You’ve had too much” he said. The drunk soldier stands up wobbly But soon falls down again He was too drunk, the lad loud laughed “There’s the bill, here’s the pen” They signed the bill and went to leave The landlord said “Hold on” He wished for them to tell a tale Before they would be gone.
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Section 3 William Dykes and Samuel Holliday The lights reflected the mood inside The clutter of the glasses heard and found The warmth outriding the cold frosty air The smell of beer dominates the grounds We leave to the growing hum of the bus As we step out to the frosty road The lights shone, glittering the snow As the bus welcomes the new load.
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Plumber Jonah Rozputynski and Boaz May The plumber’s here with his plunger Ready for a war. I’m prepared to wage my battle My job is such a bore The bathroom is getting flooded Spread out across the floor The dirty water is flowing It’s all across the wall!? Plunging at the broken toilet There’s something stuck up there. The toilet is blocked up, all right There’s loads of clogged up hair! Why I’m here’s a mystery I’m not quite sure myself The money I get from working Pays for my family’s health
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Chef George Lindgren and Dylan Saini I was at the black kitchen stove Testing a recipe Ingredients were everywhere It was not that tidy I was adding the milk and eggs To the flour in the bowl I had now finished the pastry Just now to fill the hole. I wanted to try something new The fruit was a muddle I placed the pie in the oven And it began to bubble.
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Soldier Theodore Tomalin and Denzel Abia You’ve got to be tough, made of strong stuff Or else you’ll get thrown off. So you’ve got to dig deep, make the leap For I was not a toff. I was in the Somme, the fight was so long, And there the tanks came upon. I threw off a bomb, tank not last long And me given medal, royalty from. When I came back The was a lady attack I was overcome, nowhere to run Too many a son, I had some fun. For I was struck insanely dumb.
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Lawyer He’s sly, quick-witted and wealthy, A practiser of law. I want never to do his job, For me, his work would bore. …
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