Words That Burn

Words That Burn challenges you to explore and take action for human rights through poetry.

Secondary Schools can explore human rights through poetry, with free educational resources designed to help students develop their own writing and performance style.

This is a project to explore and express human rights through poetry. As part of the Words that Burn Programme we run literary partnerships with the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, DylanEd (the education strand of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize) and the Push the Boat Out festival.

Remote learning

Words That Burn – our bitesize poetry series

Our new bitesize poetry series is a freely available resource to support your students to independently watch, explore and create poetry in response to human rights.

In the classroom

Download Words That Burn resources

There are 10 Words That Burn lesson plans accompanied by poems, film and PowerPoint, exploring areas such as identity, equality and freedom of expression. In each, students explore work from different poets and develop their own writing and performance style.

Introductory Film

Words that Burn: Introductory Film

Explore the powerful connection between poetry and human rights with this introductory video to our Words that Burn learning resources.

Words That Burn Feedback Form

Questions about your experience using the Words that Burn teaching resources and the impact this has had on your students. Data to evaluate the success of the resources and to ensure we can continue the programme in the future.

Book A Poet - Apples and Snakes

Spoken word poetry is a powerful tool for engaging and inspiring young people. Our poet educators are highly skilled inspiring role models who can bring to life any aspect of the curriculum. Evaluations demonstrate our workshops support literacy, oracy and well-being and can be adapted to explore any subject matter in innovative ways.

Why I started writing: tips for writing poetry from our poets

In these videos, Joelle Taylor, Luke Wright, Anthony Anaxagorou, Raymond Antrobus and Keith Jarrett talk about what has influenced them and their advice for how to start writing poetry.

Poetry Portal to Togetherness

Sita Brahmachari, proud Amnesty Ambassador never forgets the power that freedom of speech gives each and every one of us. For refugee people - whose voices and freedoms have been denied - to know that your dream to be reunited with your family has touched people’s hearts enough to call for a change in the law is truly powerful.

Spoken Word London's Anti-Hate Anthology

Patrick Cash writes about what led him to set up the Spoken Word London night, and the launch of the night's Anti-Hate Anthology.

How I start writing, Jordan Stephens

In this video, Jordan Stephens share with us what it is like to write to write poetry and how he started writing.

Poems on Power

Poets Luke Wright and Sabrina Mahfouz share poems on the theme of power.

Poems on the theme of family

Poets Dean Atta and Valerie Bloom share poems on the theme of family.

Poetry on the theme of LGBTI rights

Watch poets Yrsa Daley-Ward and Patrick Cash as they share poems on LGBTI rights.

Poems about women's rights

Watch poets Sarah Crossan, Deanna Rodger and Bethany Rose as they share their poems on women’s rights.

A poem on the theme of equality

Watch poet Amyra share her poem on equality.

Poems on the theme of refugee rights

Poems from the Repeat Beat Poet and Mukahang Limbu on the theme of refugees.

Words That Burn poet directory

Find out who our featured poets are and how to find them on social media.