Pontefract boy wins prestigious Young Poets Laureate programme with poem about Amazon deliveries

The next generation of West Yorkshire’s ‘Young Poets Laureate’ were announced and officially appointed by Mayor Brabin and Mr Armitage on January 26, following a search to discover and celebrate creative talent in the region.

Hundreds of poems were entered by pupils in school years four and nine, as part of a region-wide programme launched by the National Literacy Trust in October.

Max, from Pontefract, won the Year Four category with a poem entitled “Seven things found in my mum's Amazon delivery”, while the older group winner, Ayeshah from Calderdale, impressed the judges with a poem entitled ‘Primadonna’.

The 2025 winners will take the reins from West Yorkshire’s first ever young laureates Alina Brdar and Isabelle Walker, who have performed at several high-profile events in the region over the past 12 months, including the annual Convention of the North, the British Library’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and the BBC’s Contains Strong Language festival.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Alina and Isabelle have been phenomenal ambassadors for young creativity in our region over the past year, and I can’t wait to see Max and Ayeshah follow in their footsteps.

“Our region is bursting with talent and opportunities, and all of these incredible young poets have bright futures ahead of them."

Created by National Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, this initiative is run by the National Literacy Trust and funded by Mayor Tracy Brabin as part of her £2.3 million ‘You Can Make It Here’ campaign – which aims to inspire more young people in West Yorkshire to explore careers in the creative industries.

Sharena Lee Satti, Project Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “The West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureate is empowering children across the region to rediscover the joys of writing and to express themselves through poetry.

“Our winners Max and Ayeshah will now go on to serve as our second cohort of West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureates and help inspire their peers throughout the region to pick up a pen and give poetry a go.”

Max’s winning poem, “Seven things found in my mum's Amazon delivery” can be read, via: https://nlt.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Seven_Things_Found_in_my_Mums_Amazon_Delivery_by_Max.pdf