PUPILS in schools across West Devon will be putting pen to paper and letting their creative juices flow next week for a week-long poetry competition. Thirteen schools will be involved in the poetry festival 'From the Tamar to the Tavy: A Flow of Words from Children' from September 29 to October 3, organised by the Tavistock Co-operative Learning Trust, which is aiming to encourage young people to look at poetry in a new light. Each school will be visited by a professional poet who will spend a day with the youngsters helping them to craft their poems, based on the festival theme of 'Where we Live'. In addition each school will be given a box of photos of the local area, to help them craft their pieces of performance poetry. The week-long poetry event will culminate in an inter-school poetry slam, held at the Tavistock College on Friday, October 3, where students will vie for the winning trophies awarded to the top performance poet in each key stage. Helen Salmon, Tavistock College principal, said: 'This is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about poetry and be creative. It gives them the chance to become writers and find their own voice. 'We are also excited to be able to extend this event into the community by inviting members of the public to share their poems with us too. We would like people of all ages to use this beautiful photo of Cox Tor, taken by Tavistock College's assistant principal Gary King, as inspiration, write their own poem and submit it for public vote. The winning poet will receive a framed copy of the Cox Tor photograph which inspired their work.' The framed photo of Cox Tor can be viewed in the town library throughout the festival week. Members of the public wishing to take part in the poetry festival email their words to [email protected]">[email protected] or drop them in at the college reception. All entries will be displayed in Tavistock Town Hall between 9am and noon on Saturday, October 4, where members of the public can vote for their favourite piece, which will be displayed in the library the following week. Children from all the participating schools will also be performing their poetry pieces and members of the public are invited to watch and perform their own works. This is the first trust-wide event that has been staged since its formation last year, and has been made possible thanks to extra funding from Devon County Council, Tavistock College Trustees and Babcock LDP. Mrs Salmon added: 'Planning this poetry festival is bringing schools across the community together to celebrate the poetic talents of our young people and to enable them to experience the power of words. 'I am really looking forward to watching the students learn how powerful poetry can be and seeing members of the public engage with the event too.'