How a Surrey teen uses poetry to help young people connect

Jul 22

Hanna Grover speaks at a women's empowerment event. Photo courtesy: Adnan Hussein

By Patricia Lane & Hanna Grover

Hanna Grover is using poetry to help young people feel less alone. This 17-year-old from Surrey, BC, founded Poet2Poet where, each month, more than 10,000 young people use poetry to exchange their feelings and thoughts about the issues that touch them, including mental health and climate change, every month.

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Young people from more than 70 countries have sent over 300 poems together with their reflections on what they are trying to convey and their reasons for writing. I also hold in-person workshops to help make poetry writing and storytelling more accessible to young people.

Anyone can submit a poem with their reflection. We have published in English, French, Punjabi, Hindi and Farsi so far. The poems are also shared widely on social media. The site is popular because it gives us a voice. Like most Canadians, young people often feel alone in their climate anxiety and other difficulties. Publishing makes us feel validated and reading others helps remind us we are not alone.

We do our workshops with other organizations, like Unsinkable. We give participants gentle prompts such as “I feel resilient when…” or “I feel unsinkable when…” and everyone writes free verse. Every participant leaves with at least three poems. Participants tell us they feel much more confident and empowered and see themselves as part of a community.

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YCAA recipients

Peter Allan

How a Surrey teen uses poetry to help young people connect

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