If you’re passionate about poetry, aged 13-25 and live or learn in Hammersmith & Fulham, we want you to apply for our Youth Arts Festival Poet Laureate Commission and our Junior Poet Laureate Prize.

If you’re passionate about poetry, aged 13-25 and live or learn in Hammersmith & Fulham, we want you to apply for our Youth Arts Festival Poet Laureate Commission and our Junior Poet Laureate Prize. 

18-25 year olds are eligible to apply for our Youth Arts Festival Poet Laureate commission. You will attend Young People’s Borough of Culture events, participate in Youth Arts Festival poetry events, and create your own body of work that reflects the experience of young artists in Hammersmith & Fulham.

13-17 year olds can apply for our YPBoC Junior Poet Laureate Prize. This is aimed at people who might never have written poetry before, or may be at the very beginning of their creative writing journey. The winner will receive mentoring from a local arts organisation during October half term, a guaranteed place at exciting masterclasses and performance events, and an opportunity to publish new poetic work as part of an anthology being curated in 2027.

The deadline to apply is Saturday 10th October. To apply for the Youth Arts Festival commission or the YPBoC Junior Laureate Prize,, all we are looking for is a short example of your work, as well as some information on what inspires and interests you creatively. Want to know more? See below for full details

Youth Arts Festival Poet Laureate - ages 18 to 25

£2,200 commission

This commission pays for

• 2x days w/c 19th October to receive mentoring and brief from Write London and the YPBoC team
• Approx 70 hours of work from 26th October – 31st December 2026, including
  • At least 8 hours attending/observing Youth Arts Festival activities from 26th – 31st October (compulsory, but hours flexible around your schedule)
  • Attending/performing at an evening poetry night on 30th October (if you are not available this evening please do still apply)
• Completion of creative work by 31st December
  • This should be a body of original work that would fill a pamphlet of approximately 8-12 pages

We are looking for

• A poet aged 18-25 who lives/learns/works in Hammersmith & Fulham (currently or recently)
• Someone who has experience writing and can complete creative writing in a self-motivated way
• Someone who is eligible for an Enhanced DBS (we will pay for this in addition to your commission)

We will provide

• Mentoring and support from Write London
• A performance opportunity as part of the Poetry Night on 30th October
• A publication of the work written as part of the Young People’s Borough of Culture
• To apply, please send an email to contact@ypboc.org with the subject line ‘Youth Arts Festival Poet Laureate’, and include the following information/attachments Please submit 2-3 pieces of pre-existing work (no more than 10 pages combined total, excerpts welcome). We are not looking for any particular style or content, the work submitted should reflect you as a writer
• 150 words about why this opportunity is suitable for this moment in your creative journey, or what excites you about the commission
• Below are some of the mentoring focuses that can be provided by Write London, please pick 1 or 2 that you’d most benefit from. This will not influence decisions made in this process, but will allow us to better understand you as a writer and plan mentoring sessions:
  • Documentary/Interview/Verbatim writing
  • Rapid response writing
  • Creative participation projects, or work with children and young people
  • Writing to deadlines or creative briefs
• You must also provide the below details in the body of your email:
  • The first half of your Hammersmith & Fulham postcode (this should be where you live or learn in the Borough)
  • Your date of birth 

We suggest this process should take approx. 60 minutes or less. We look forward to hearing from you!

YPBOC Junior Poet Laureate Prize

We are looking for

• Someone aged 13-17 who currently lives/learns in Hammersmith & Fulham
• Someone who is interested in poetry and developing their own writing skills – you do not have to have written poetry formally/independently before, but you may have enjoyed creative writing (including novels, scripts, etc.) in school or college

To apply, please send an email to contact@ypboc.org with the subject line ‘YPBoC Junior Poet Laureate Prize’, and include the following information/attachments:

• Please submit 1 x A4 page of your own poetry writing (this may be 1 longer poem or a series of shorter pieces) We are not looking for any particular style or content, the work submitted should reflect you as a writer
• Please share with us 1 x poem by someone else, with 100 words about why you enjoy it, or how it inspires you creatively
• 100 words about why this opportunity is interesting to you
• You must also provide the below details in the body of your email:
  • The name & email address/phone number of a parent/carer aged 18 or over (we will contact this person as well as you to notify applicants of the results). Please indicate this adult’s relationship to you in your email
  • The first half of your Hammersmith & Fulham postcode (this should be where you live or learn in the Borough)
  • Your date of birth 

The prize winner will receive:

• A £500.00 cash prize 
• 5 days worth of mentoring from Write London (the majority of which will take place in October half term 2026), a local organisation, where you will learn about documentary poetry writing and rapid response creative work
• Guaranteed admission to poetry writing masterclasses and events during October half term 2026
• An opportunity to publish new poetry written during your mentoring period as part of a Young People’s Borough of Culture anthology that will be published in 2027