2019 Betty Haigh Winner Announced

The English Association is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2019 Betty Haigh Shakespeare prize is Niamh Bradshaw, a student of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle.

The Betty Haigh Shakespeare prize is an essay competition open to any sixth form student of English literature. This year, students were asked to submit essays on Shakespeare film adaptations. Niamh’s essay focused on Hamlet, analysing the ‘nunnery’ scene in Hamlet (dir. Michael Almereyda, 2000).

Judges Pam Bickley and Jenny Stevens, who are also Trustees and Fellows of the Association, said Niamh’s analysis impressed them with its lucid expression, sensitive reading, and its judicious use of critical writings. They found her line of argument to be especially strong: clear, persuasive and well informed.

The English Association has officially congratulated and presented Niamh Bradshaw with a certificate and a copy of The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare edited by Arthur F. Kinney (2012). View previous winners.

Naimh’s essay will be published in the Spring Newsletter.