National poetry competition Poetry By Heart is open, and there’s a forthcoming documentary about this transformative experience
Poetry by Heart, the national poetry speaking competition for young people opened on National Poetry Day in early October with a call to all schools to sign up. It has also released a preview of Poetry By Heart: the Movie, a feature film documentary following schools as they enter the competition.
The film details the impact that Poetry By Heart has on young people – from poetry being used to create unity in challenging environments, to encouraging children to explore and manage their emotions. It was filmed in schools across the country, from Newcastle to the Scilly Isles and Great Yarmouth to Barrow and features freestyle entries, poetry clubs and sessions where teachers and pupils practise poems, run competitions and fine-tune video submissions. The full documentary will be released next year.
“Poetry belongs everywhere” says Dr Julie Blake, co-founder and co-director of Poetry By Heart, “but it has a special place in schools. As revealed in our movie, teachers and the young people who take part in Poetry By Heart understand the joy, satisfaction and deep learning that comes from knowing a poem by heart.
“We can’t wait to release our film on a big screen in 2026 and in the meantime, we urge all schools to sign up now,” she adds. “It doesn’t have to be a big undertaking but however you choose to take part, the impact will be huge.”
Poetry By Heart is open to all schools and colleges in England and invites young people to choose a poem they love, learn it by heart, and perform it out loud. Schools hold internal competitions to select their own winners, with the best from each region then invited to a Grand Finale at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London next summer to compete for the title of national champion. This year, over 1,600 schools across England took part, with 128,000 performances and 4,300 finalists.
Find out more about Poetry By Heart, with information about age group and how to enter, at poetrybyheart.org.uk
Watch a preview of the forthcoming documentary on Vimeo
Further reading: Poetry pleaser
You may also like...
