‘Imagine Co-Writing a Poem with a Tree, River, or Even the Weather…’

Wild Words is an exciting new cross-species poetry project inviting young people aged 18 and under across the UK to connect with nature.

We want you to collaborate with an element of your local environment, whether a flower, insect, bird, tree, natural landscape, or even the weather, to craft an original piece of poetry.

Wild Words is supported by The Hays Travel Foundation and Save the Children UK.

Why Wild Words?

Our aim is to inspire empathy, understanding and community between young people and your local natural environments.

Our world faces environmental challenges, and we believe the arts can play a crucial role in raising awareness and empowering young voices. Wild Words provides a platform for you to express your feelings and observations about nature through poetry.

How It Works:

Taking part is easy! Head to your garden, local park, or any outdoor space, and select something in nature you feel drawn to. Spend time observing it closely. Consider its place in the ecosystem. Get to know it like you know a friend.

Then, let your creativity flow into writing a poem together.

Check out our resource sheets on our website for some great exercises and inspiration.

Publication:

Our favourite 50 poems will be published in our new Wild Words poetry anthology eBook. Plus, all entries will be showcased on our website and across our social media.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.