Writing Prompts

There’s a poem in all of us…

… and you can dig it out with the following writing prompts, designed or selected by the Poetry and Covid team. Whether you’ve never written a poem before, or you’re a published pro, the prompts below are a great way to focus your thoughts and explore the theme of pandemics in an inspiring and guided way.

And when you’re finished, remember to email us the results!

Submit a Poem
  • About Their Person
    List poems can help you break into a challenging idea or lead you down unexpected routes. This one is no different, inspired by a list poem aficionado, Simon Armitage.
  • Headlines, Read all About it
    We’ve been bombarded by COVID news throughout 2020, much of it alarming, contradictory and, sometimes, misleading. This prompt invites you to muddy the waters even more.
  • Pestilence (A Response)
    Write two concluding stanzas…
  • Letter Writing
    Write a letter to someone you’ve never met and are grateful for…
  • List Three Things…
    List three things you…

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Poetry and Covid-19 ARCHIVE (This website archives the over 1000 poems submitted by over 600 poets, and viewed by over 100,000 from over 125 countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, June 2020-June 2021). Thank you to all who took part in the Poetry and Covid project.