A Poem for World Leaders to Ponder

One of the key aims of COP26 is to empower young people’s voices. This is at the core of the way that our programme for young people Collage Voices works. Our creative writing group, under the guidance of poet Paul Lyalls, gathered to discuss the future of our planet. 2117 Undreamed strikes an optimistic chord, whilst acknowledging the position of the planet and the damage that has been done.

Artistic Director Steve Medlin explains: “Our philosophy at Collage Voices is to create space for young people to explore what they want to say and then give them a platform to share their work, where it is appropriate. I am really pleased that the creative writing group has asked us to stop and think about the state of the planet. This has been a tough couple of years for young people, and we don’t shy away from the issue that young people feel are important. We believe that this a very healthy way to support their wellbeing.”

Collage Voices’ Creative Writing students submitted the poem as an entry to the Jack Petchey Foundation’s Forward to the Future competition. Congratulations to Jill, Louis, Annabelle, Drew Kyle and Alfie for their entry has been short listed and will be exhibited online. Congratulations!

If you are interested in joining our Saturday Creative Writing class for 8-14 year olds, please click here or email voices@collage-arts.org.

You can listen to the poem by clicking here or below.