Laura Mucha has won this year’s Caterpillar prize for the best poem for children with a poem written in the form of a goodbye note from Cinderella to her ‘Dear Ugly Sisters’.

Mucha, who is 33 and lives in London, worked as a face painter, studied flying trapeze and swam in Antarctica before becoming a lawyer. Over the last few years her poetry for children has been featured in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including the Caterpillar.

The Caterpillar, which features poems, stories and art for children aged seven to 11, was launched in 2013. Its poetry prize, which consists of €1,000 and publication in the Caterpillar, was inaugurated last year.

Mucha said she loved writing for children, and believes “it’s one of the best ways of getting young people interested in language, reading and performance. I think the Caterpillar poetry prize is an important award, particularly as there are so few outlets for children’s poets, and it’s a huge honour to have won it.”

The judges also commended poems by Carole Bromley, Theresa Donnelly, Louise Greig, Alison Porter, Heather Reid and Jo Withers.

You can read Laura Mucha’s winning poem here