Child poetry plagiarist unmasked

The 10-year-old winner of a children’s poetry competition had to hand back her prize money after newspaper readers noticed that her poem was the work of a well known writer.

“It’s a mini drama for her. She did not realize it had been written by someone else,” a member of the competition jury said Tuesday. —Child poetry plagiarist unmasked (Reuters|My Way)

That’s one way to get ahead in life. Let’s hope the young poet has learned her lesson.

4 thoughts on “Child poetry plagiarist unmasked

  1. The Smiths had this to say:

    “If you must write prose and poems
    The words you use should be your own
    Don’t plagiarise or take “on loans”
    There’s always someone, somewhere
    With a big nose, who knows
    And who trips you up and laughs
    When you fall”

    Morrissey and Marr, “Cemetary[sic] Gates”.

  2. How could she not know that poem was written by someone else? It must have come from a source, if not her own mind, right? How could the judges not realize that poem was plagiarized?

    I always thought creative writing was unique because it draws from an individual’s originality and experience along with an ability to express them in words or word-images. I fail to understand why people plagiarize anything.

  3. “She did not realize it had been written by someone else,” made me go read the article because I just couldn’t believe how dumb this statement was. The answer didn’t help much: “It started as a school project and was followed by many events … probably she just forgot.” I believe that glossing it over for and especially TO her, will not help this young lady ever learn right from wrong.

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