Social anxiety: using poetry to talk about young people’s mental health

It's Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, and this year's theme is 'Anxiety'. Here's a guest blog post I wrote for the Children's Poetry Summit. It includes an extract from a free resource on using poems as a 'way in' to help young people talk about mental health issues. In this example, I explore social anxiety. …

‘Let’s Talk About Depression’: a new resource guide for using poetry to explore mental health & wellbeing

My new poetry collection for teens and young adults, You Are Not Alone, is all about mental health and wellbeing. I'm creating a series of resources / guides to accompany the book, offering ideas and suggestions for using the poems in therapeutic, school, community or family settings to help explore different aspects of mental health …

‘Let’s Talk About Anxiety’: a new resource guide for using poetry to explore mental health & wellbeing

Poetry can be a great resource for exploring our thoughts and feelings, providing a ‘way in’ to help us connect with different parts of ourselves and communicate with others, particularly when it comes to challenging conversations. Sometimes it can be helpful to explore a topic from a ‘safe distance’ using scenarios or characters in a …

New book ‘You Are Not Alone’ launches this week, during Children’s Mental Health Week

My new collection of poems for young people is launching this week, just in time for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023 (6-12 February). The book, called You Are Not Alone, is aimed at teen and young adult readers and it’s all about young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. The 70+ poems in this collection …

‘Carter’s Originals’: four songs on Roger Stevens’ latest album

Roger Stevens is, as well as a much-loved children's poet,  a songwriter and musician who brings to his work a combination of thoughtful lyrics, good melodies and more than a dash of humour. Roger performs and records his songs and has a number of albums out on CD, the latest of which I'm delighted to have …

‘Don’t’: new poem on Charles Causley Trust Blog ‘The Maker’

This November, The Charles Causley Trust is featuring a series of poems written for children on its blog 'The Maker'. The month kicked off with an article on the man himself, and his ability to write accessible but unpatronising poetry for younger audiences: Rhythm, Rhyme and Form: How Causley Changed Poetry Writing for Kids I popped up …

The Big Amazing Poetry Book – 52 weeks of poetry from 52 brilliant poets

The Big Amazing Poetry Book is beautiful door-stopper of a book edited by Gaby Morgan, introduced by Roger McGough and illustrated by Chris Riddell.  It's a warm, funny collection that's packed with all different styles of poetry - ballads, riddles, tongue-twisters, shape poems, haikus, sonnets and raps - about seasons, festivals, animals, birds, love, war, …