Skip to content

Development of young poets to be explored in new study

The impact of mentoring on young poets is to be explored in a new research project which aims to help all young writers to develop their talent.

Young woman writing in a book
The project will explore the development stories of Foyle Young Poets

During the next two years, the project will investigate a rarely explored aspect of poetry writing development: the mentoring of young poets, aged 11 – 30, who were award-winning and/or highly commended entrants in The Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2012-2019, a well-established, international competition run for 20 years by The Poetry Society.

Young Poets’ Stories is being led by Dr Sue Dymoke, Associate Professor of Education at Nottingham Trent University, working alongside Dr Anthony Wilson at the University of Exeter, and is funded by The Foyle Foundation.

The project will capture the development stories of 30 young Foyle poets in the early stages of their writing, after success in the competition, through interviews and discussions of their work. The study will also use observations from a separate group of poets and their experienced poet mentors.

A series of case studies and web-based resources will be created to add to what is known about poetry writing theory and the practice of mentoring young writers.

As poets themselves, both researchers have a strong personal interest in promoting poetry in education.

Dr Dymoke said: “Ultimately, we hope that this project will encourage young writers to reflect on their work and the impact of mentoring practices used to support the development of their creative writing.

Young Poets’ Stories is the starting point for a much larger scale piece of work, and we hope that new understandings gleaned from our research will directly benefit young writers everywhere. The opportunity to develop a voice and to explore ideas through language is a vital one which should be afforded to all young people.”

Recruitment for the study is now open for any award-winning and/or highly commended entrant in The Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2012-2019. Further information can be found on the Call for Young Poet Participants page on theYoung Poets’ Stories website.

  • Notes for editors

    Press enquiries please contact Helen Breese, Public Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751, or via email.

    About Nottingham Trent University

    Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students.

    NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

    The university has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

    It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.

    The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was awarded University of the Year in the UK Social Mobility Awards 2019.

    A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 87% satisfaction score in the 2019 National Student Survey.

Published on 28 April 2020
  • Category: Press office; Nottingham Institute of Education; School of Social Sciences