Meet the young poets thriving in lockdown A new poetry competition reveals what young people feel about the future, with more than 350 works published in a companion anthology Signs of a poet: Thomas Bowden at school in Devon In a year where we have grappled with a maelstrom of emotions and been forced into periods of reflection and solitude, poetry has provided a literary hug. From the reassurance sought in the late Derek Mahon’s ‘ Everything Is Going to Be All Right’ to the humour of Brian Bilston’s ‘ An Outbreak of Matt Hancock,’ poetry has provided solace. Subject to an enforced pause, many turned inward and reconnected with a subject they had long left behind. Poetry even gained ground as a medium in television adverts. Its perception as a niche art available to the few who can crack its code is outdated. There’s now an energy and dynamism thanks to young people involved in spoken word poetry.