Each year we hold a competition to commemorate the execution of Anne Boleyn on the 19th May 1536. This year, entrants had the choice of writing either of the following two options

1. An account of Anne Boleyn’s execution from the point of view of the executioner – They could write about him receiving the order, travelling to England and then his feelings about the day itself, or whatever they thought was appropriate.
2. Anne Boleyn’s execution speech – What they would have said if they had been Anne on that scaffold?

The judges were aware that many entries were written by those who had English as a second language and so the entries were judged on content, the story or speech, rather than the correct use of English. We loved reading them and it was so hard to choose a winner, particularly as there were so many entries!

The overall winner is Sway (Tsvetomira Petrova). Sway wins signed copies of both my books (The Anne Boleyn Collection and The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown) plus an Anne Boleyn Falcon Badge pewter bookmark. The two runners up are Sopfia Linthicum and Jenny Zeek, who both win sets of Henry VIII and Six Wives magnets or badges (their choice). Here are all the entries, in no particular order after the first three.

Entries

• By My Hand – Sway (Tsvetomira Petrova)
• Anne Boleyn’s Execution Speech – Sofia Linthicum, aged 9
• It’s the Eyes That Haunt You by Jenny Zeek
• Anne Boleyn’s Execution Speech – Yann Kergourlay
• Anne on the Scaffold by Areti Grammenou
• Confessions of the Executioner of Queen Anne Boleyn – Wiley Emmett Koon, Jr.
• The End of the Matter – Valerie Christie
• 19 May 1536 – Stephanie Tracy
• 19th May 1536 – Sophie1536
• Anne Boleyn’s Execution Speech – Rose Cronogue
• The French Executioner – Roberta Marangi
• The Executioner’s Story – Rachel Westendorp
• Anne’s Execution Speech – Phyllis Wolf
• The French Executioner – Patricia L. Getz
• The Swordsman of Calais by Nancy Smith
• The Rose of May by Nan Collain
• A Death to Remember By MC Moffat
• Condemned by Michelle Cardwell
• My Elizabeth Shall Be Queen – M.Elaine Matthews
• The Ghost of Anne Boleyn Speaks by M.Elaine Matthews
• Called to Execute the Queen of England by M.Elaine Matthews
• Anne Boleyn’s Execution by Maggie Ann Steele
• The Executioner by Magdalena Makówka
• Anne’s Speech by Magdalena Makówka
• Anne Boleyn’s Final Speech by Lisa Linthicum
• The Fine Line Between Love And Hate by Le’Ann Reis
• The Executioner’s Death by Kristi Strode
• The Swordsman Cometh by Kate Wallace
• The Death of a Queen by Karlee Williams
• Waiting In The Tower: The Diary of Anne Boleyn by Kaisa Kärmik, aged 13
• The Executioner of 1536 by Jessica Creton
• Gray by Jennifer Nicholas
• The Diary of an executioner by Jeanette Mongae
• Anne Boleyn’s Execution by Helene Phoebe Harrison
• The Past is Never Past by Gena Barning
• Anne’s Speech by Erin Maria Ochoa
• The Executioner by Emanuela Lobianco
• Anne Boleyn and the Executioner by Eliza Nastou
• Anne Boleyn’s Final Moments by Clasina Verwer
• What We Wish Anne Had Said by Anon
• 19 May 1536 by Bridgett Trejo
• The Executioner’s Story by Bridgett St Meave
• Prayer of the Damned by Beth Walsh
• The Execution of Anne Boleyn – The point of view of the executioner by Ashley Currier
• To Kill a Queen by Alison Shiels

Here is a video from Anne Boleyn Files follower Erin Flanagan Lind. It is her original tune written for the poem traditionally associated with Anne Boleyn, “O Deathe, Rock Me Asleep”