London Youth Poetry Challenge
12 June 2020
Since lockdown began in March 2020, our team here at London Youth has been hearing from youth organisations, youth professionals and young people about how they are coping and adapting.
Many youth organisations have started delivering online sessions, sharing resources and setting fun challenges for young people. Many young people are using their interest in creative activities like writing, drawing, or music-making, to stay positive and help process this extraordinary experience.
In response to the current situation, we launched our first online Poetry Challenge.
We invited our member youth organisations all over London to take part by running flexible, fun and accessible poetry sessions or setting quick poetry challenges and submitting the poems their young people produce.
We were amazed by the response. Dozens of young people shared their poems with us. Some were written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while others were about issues that young people care about. Many were poems young people had written before the pandemic hit and the lockdown began.
The challenge has been a powerful reminder of how important poetry and other creative pursuits are to young people’s lives. Whether it’s a fun challenge, a way to share what you’re feeling, or how you show the world who you are, poems are a powerful way of connecting. We are delighted to publish these two collections of poetry, which we believe are a testament to young people’s creativity and resilience, and a demonstration of how much these young people from all over London have in common.
Download volume I and II by clicking the thumbnails.
– Emily Reddon – Arts Development Manager
