Winners of People Need Nature/Young Poets Network Namedropping challenge announced.

We’re delighted to announce that the Second People Need Nature/Young Poets Network nature poetry competition entries have now been judged by poet Jen Hadfield. This year’s competition was around the theme “name dropping”.

The free-to-enter challenge received over 100 impressive entries from poets aged 8 to 25 from countries as far afield as Canada, New Zealand and India.

Photo of Jen Hadfield
Jen Hadfield

T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Jen Hadfield wrote and judged the challenge for the second year in a row, asking young poets to re-examine the names we give to our landscapes: “What happens when we give names to places, plants, and creatures? Do names make it easier or harder to know exactly where we are? What histories do names smuggle into the present day?”

Jen said, “Writing and judging this second challenge for Young Poets Network and People Need Nature has been such fun and feels very meaningful. There’s a lovely variety within the winners. I looked for poems that explored the idea of naming or powerfully evoked a place (urban and/or wild); I also rewarded originality of voice and idiom, clarity, naturalness and experimentation. Well done to everyone!”

First prize: ‘Dandelion’ by Amelia Doherty

Second prize: ‘The Adolescent Adventures of the Bold Brunettes’ by Katie Kirkpatrick

Third prize: ‘Canadian bear’ by Xanthe McElroy

Runners-up: Abby Meyer, Matilda Houston-Brown, Francesca Weekes, Ella  Standage, Weina Jin

Highly commended: Luca Demetriadi, Olivia Todd, Sarahana Chemjong, Annika Cleland-Hura, Jennie Howitt, Emma Reilly

Read the winning poems on Young Poets Network now.

Judith Palmer, Director of The Poetry Society, said, “We love working with People Need Nature, helping to germinate a new generation of nature poets.  From the sun rays of dandelion heads to feather boa reed beds, the writers of Young Poets Network have done us proud, with their close observations and playful mapping of the nature on their own doorsteps.  These poems help reconnect us with a sense of wonderment in our natural surroundings, and maybe a little extra determination to get outdoors.”

Miles King, founder of People Need Nature, said, “People Need Nature was created to highlight things like how important nature is a source of inspiration for writers and artists – the People Need Nature/Young Poets Network poetry competition is a great example of that and we’re delighted to work with The Poetry Society again. It’s obvious that young people care greatly about nature and what could be better than to express that care and love through poetry.”

Read the winning poems on Young Poets Network.