A new initiative to publish the work of some of the island’s young writers across Douglas was unveiled recently.

The Children’s Poetry Trail was launched by the Isle of Man Poetry Society at the Family Library earlier this month.

Ten poems, written by young writers who study in the years seven, eight and nine in the island’s high schools, have been published and hung in the windows of businesses throughout Douglas Town Centre during Easter through to the May bank holiday weekend.

The initiative was created by the members of the Isle of Man Poetry Society after the success of the long-running adults poetry trail, which runs throughout September, as part of the Manx Litfest.

Organiser Bethany De Legh Runciman said that she hopes the children’s poetry trail can become an annual event, in the same way as the adult trail, and that, while the trail got off to a relatively slow start, the quality of poems showed that there is plenty of poetic talent in the island’s schools.

‘This is the first year that we have run the children’s trail, and we didn’t have a huge amount of entries, which is pretty typical for something like this.

‘However, the poems we did receive are absolutely amazing, and more than deserve to be seen and read.

‘The trail will be up over Easter and I really hope that people, especially children, will find and read them , and be inspired to maybe write some of their own, and then be encouraged to enter their own poems in the trail next year.

‘I am planning to hold another trail and will be sending out the information to schools during December.

‘This will help spread the word and get people involved and writing poems from an early age and hopefully see their work hanging in the town.’

The trail was launched by members of the poetry society and by the new Manx Youth Bard, Iva Petrova.

Trail guides can be picked up at the Henry Bloom Noble Library and the Family Library.