It was poetry in motion for a Bedford teenager who is celebrating after winning the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award.

The Poetry Society announced Olivia Danks among its Top 15 winners and 85 commended poets at a special awards ceremony at The British Library in London.

The winning poems explore a huge range of subjects from cultural heritage, family, food, and the state of the nation, through to whales, spiders, rats, David Attenborough, and even Love Island.

Olivia, 17, describes herself as 'an aspiring poet currently studying A-levels and intending to study literature at university. Her favourite poem currently is ‘Wild Geese’, and this is her first time sharing her work.

“I love reading and I run a book club, but I love writing even more,” she said.

“It means the world to be a Foyle Young poet. I've been writing poetry for many years now, but always felt too shy to submit or share my work. However, I was inspired by all the previous winners and their incredible work, and I'm so glad I entered.

“I'm still shocked to be a Top 15 Winner, and all the winning and commended pieces this year are fantastic.”

The Award’s top 15 writers celebrated the best poems written by young people aged from 11 to 17 from across the world in 2026.

Devised and run by The Poetry Society and developed with longstanding funding from the Foyle Foundation, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is firmly established as one of the leading poetry competitions for young people aged 11 to 17.

In 2026, 11,798 poems were entered into the competition from 10,598 young poets. Young people from 153 countries took part from as far afield as Mexico, India and Australia as well as from across the UK.

The top 15 poems are published in a printed winners’ anthology, We Write our Names on the Walls, which is distributed free to thousands of schools, libraries, reading groups and poetry lovers across the UK. The 85 commended poems will appear in an online anthology in the spring.

Read Olivia’s poem Welcome home, Persephone, here.