In a world of doomscrolling and the prescriptive responses of AI, young people are increasingly turning to poetry: a form that is raw, honest and authentic. Poetry also invites the absurd and the experimental, making it a truly flexible way of facing both intimate and global complexity.
Around 24% of children and young people (aged eight to 18) read poetry in their free time at least once a month, a 2025 United Kingdom survey found. And around 18% said they wrote poetry in their free time at least once a month. Compared to results a decade earlier, poetry reading had increased. The survey found that poetry was “a way to express and process their feelings and emotions”, a “quiet refuge”, a “tool for voice and agency”.
