As part of our celebrations of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday this year, we have teamed up with Young Poet’s Network and poet Janine Bradbury to set a challenge for young poets to write a new poem inspired by Jane Austen’s humour.

For this challenge, Janine Bradbury has created a set of prompts and ideas to inspire your poems! The challenge guide introduces ideas about parody, rhyme and wordplay that may help inspire new ideas and writing techniques. To find out more and enter your poem, visit the Young Poets Network.

Janine will also be a leading a free, online workshop for young poets on Saturday 20 September!

This event is open to writers aged 14 to 25, based anywhere in the world.

Details:
Date: Saturday 20 September
Times: 2pm – 3pm British Summertime (UK time)
Location: Online – join from wherever you are in the world!
Tickets: Free but booking is essential!

 This event is part of our Persuasion Festival, running from 12 – 21 September 2025

Young Poets Network is The Poetry Society’s online platform for young poets up to the age of 25. Here you’ll find features about poets and poetry, challenges and competitions to inspire your own writing, new writing from young poets, and advice and guidance from the rising and established stars of the poetry scene. We also bring you the latest news and ideas from the writing world, and a list of competitions, magazines and writing groups which particularly welcome young writers.

Young Poets Network is for everyone interested in poets and poetry – whether you’ve just started out, or you’re a seasoned reader or writer. Teachers and parents might find it a useful resource, too.

Janine Bradbury is a poet, academic and BBC New Generation Thinker. Her debut pamphlet, Sometimes Real Love Comes Quick & Easy (ignition press, 2024), was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. Her writing explores the sentimental politics of girlhood, motherhood, fandom, and love. She is a Senior Lecturer in Literature at the University of York.