Get creative for the Jubilee (From Oxford Mail)

Get creative for the Jubilee

12:00pm Monday 13th February 2012 in Bicester

PEOPLE are being urged to get their creative juices flowing to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Bicester’s MP Tony Baldry wants town poets to put pen to paper and come up with some verses to celebrate the occasion.

The contest is calling for people to write a poem which best captures the spirit of Bicester.

There will be an under-18s and over-18s section.

It can be in any format from a limerick to a sonnet or an ode to a haiku.

Winners of the two classes will get £500, and all entries will be included in an anthology of poems called Bicester – 2012, which will be sold at a later date with profits going to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Fund. Mr Baldry said: “This is a fantastic way in which the entire community can get involved.

“We are not just looking for school age children. Anyone of any age can enter the competition.

“We will be looking for something special, which is memorable and captures the reader’s attention.”

All entries should be sent to Tony Baldry MP, Alexandra House, Church Passage, Banbury, OX16 5JZ, by Friday, May 11.

Earlier, Bicester Jubilee Steering Group announced a string of events due to take place in the town during the Jubilee weekend, June 2 to 5. These include a beer festival and fireworks display, a street party in Sheep Street, a Jubilee Carnival and beacon lighting.