In 2023, following our inaugural West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureate programme in schools across the region, we crowned two Young Poet Laureates. It was 9-year-old Alina who earned her place as one of two winners of the first-ever position after creating an excellent piece of poetry.
Delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the National Poetry Centre and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, the poetry-based programme aimed to challenge young people’s perceptions of poetry. The creative workshops, poet-led events and tailored resources covered different topics and activities, and were curated to support young people to write their own original poems. Participants were then encouraged to submit their new poems for a chance to become the region’s Young Poet Laureates.
Alina is testament to the power of the approach. She entered the competition having never shared a poem before and ended it as a regional poetry ambassador performing to audiences of over 150 people and even interviewing authors such as Jacqueline Wilson.
The programme, which forms just one of our many creative writing and carefully crafted programmes for primary and secondary schools nationwide, was a great success and is currently running in West Yorkshire for a second year.
Let's take a look at Alina's story and find out more about the power of poetry.
What does Alina have to say about the West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureate programme?
“[The programme] was amazing. I met a lot of inspirational people and attended wonderful events. Winning the competition helped me build up courage and confidence with writing and speaking. Poetry is an amazing way to express yourself so just pick up a pen and start writing.”
Alina's experience of poetry before the competition
Before the programme, the 9-year-old had always loved reading books and enjoyed going to the library on Saturday afternoons, but didn’t know much about poetry and hadn’t ever written it. When the competition was announced in school, she was so excited and inspired by the poetry events and activities that were run during West Yorkshire Poetry Week and launched the programme's competition element, that she decided to write a poem about her class and entered it into the competition.
What happened when she won her age category?
Alina’s poem won her the Year 4 laureateship and she embarked on a full programme of activity delivered in and outside of school, meeting with poets who helped her to improve and shape her work. She was asked by the Mayor of West Yorkshire to write an original poem about the region and invited to perform poetry at a variety of events, including the Northern Convention and the Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing where she interviewed author Jacqueline Wilson.
What has the ongoing impact been for Alina?
The West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureate Programme has transformed Alina from a keen reading enthusiast with little writing experience into a confident performer who has been writing ever since and continues to be invited to events and explore poetry writing.
Alina’s mum said:
“This competition has given her great confidence in writing and speaking in front of others, and she has been writing poems ever since. Alina likes to write poetry that makes people smile. She now writes poems for family and friends.”
Alina's teacher also reflected that Alina "has grown in confidence a lot" since becoming a Young Poet Laureate. “I am pleased that Alina has had opportunities to perform her poems in front of large audiences and meet such influential people like the Mayor of West Yorkshire and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.”
Research exploring children and young people's engagement with poetry which was published by the National Literacy Trust in 2024 on National Poetry Day identified that children and young people who read, watch or listen to poetry identified the huge benefits for their wellbeing, confidence, aptitude for learning and empathy. For young people who wrote or performed poetry, the benefits extended to their creativity and self-expression of their ideas, thoughts and feelings. It's evident that the West Yorkshire Poet Laureate programme has had this impact for Alina, who in turn has gone on to inspire her peers across the country.
Alina's poem exclusively for our National Poetry Day resources
Both Alina and Isabelle, the winning Young Poet Laureate in the 2023 Year 9 category, were invited to craft original poems exclusively for our National Poetry Day 2024 resources on the theme of making your voice count. Their poems will be used in primary and secondary schools across the UK and pupils will explore the works of our Young Poet Laureates as one source of inspiration before being encouraged to create their own poetry.