How Poetry Supports Youth Mental Health: Student Author Charlotte Collins and "The Art of Moving On"

In this edition of our Hooked on Books series, we’re exploring the power of poetry for youth mental health, coming of age, growing up, and student voice to share stories, spark reflection, and connect readers through emotion. In her debut poetry collection, The Art of Moving On, Canadian student writer and poet Charlotte Collins invites readers into an unflinching exploration of youth mental health, identity, and resilience. Written during her final years of high school, Charlotte’s poems trace a journey through depression, bullying, and grief toward hope and self-discovery—and now she is entering her first year of university as a student success story. With honesty and vulnerability, she transforms deeply personal experiences into art that speaks to universal themes of healing, belonging, and the courage to share one’s story. Her work not only documents the struggles of adolescence, but also shines a light for others navigating similar paths, offering reassurance that they are not alone—and that their stories matter. Keep reading for our full interview with debut student author Charlotte Collins, including her advice for younger or first-time authors interested in publishing through a non-traditional route.

At Teachers on Call, our in-person and online English tutors value literature that sparks meaningful conversations and inspires students to engage critically and empathetically with the world around them. We believe in celebrating Canadian debut student authors and poets like Charlotte Collins, a role model in self-publishing while still in high school, whose work empowers readers of all ages to reflect, relate, and grow. The Art of Moving On models the bravery it takes to share one’s truth, while also underscoring the importance of mental health awareness, growing stronger, diversity and representation in literature.

For Charlotte, writing was a creative outlet and a powerful way to get her thoughts and feelings out of her head. At Teachers on Call, we often hear from elementary and secondary students who find it difficult to get their thoughts onto paper at school, especially for assignments like essay writing. Charlotte’s poetry demonstrates how creative writing can provide another pathway to process emotions and capture ideas, helping her put into words what she was experiencing. While April is recognized as National Poetry Month in Canada and poetry units are taught in schools, we love that Charlotte took this to the next level by self-publishing her collection of poems. Stories like Charlotte’s remind us that creativity and self-expression can be powerful tools for learning  inside and outside the classroom, shedding light on the struggles many youth face while offering a message of hope.

About the Author: Charlotte Collins in Her Own Words

Charlotte Collins is a young author from Toronto who has recently published her first collection of poetry titled “The Art of Moving On”. Charlotte’s lifelong ambition has always been to become an author, as she’s been writing stories for as long as she can remember. Her goals for the future and hopes for her writing is that her words can inspire other youth to pursue their dreams, along with bringing awareness to the struggles of mental health and furthering LGBT representation in literature. Having just graduated from high school, Charlotte is now off to study literature and history at the University of Kings College in Halifax, NS, where she plans to continue working on her next literary projects. While originally from Toronto, Niagara-On-The-Lake is now home!

Read our full Hooked on Books interview with Charlotte Collins

Your anthology, The Art of Moving On, explores growing up through mental illness, bullying, and grief. What inspired you to share such deeply personal experiences through poetry, and how has writing helped you process and heal?

When I started writing poetry in 2021, I had zero intentions of publishing or sharing it. I began writing because a friend of mine, the same friend who designed the cover for The Art of Moving On, told me once that I should try writing down my ideas. I had never been one for journaling and found the idea of poetry to be much more romantic, so I sat down with a notebook and let the words flow. 

Eventually I found a rhythm in writing and decided to try writing about what I was going through. During that time, I was experiencing severe depression with very few supports in place, and writing became a crutch. If I wrote it down, the thoughts would leave my mind. I wrote about emotions and parts of myself I didn’t understand in hopes that reading them back would give me clarity. I wrote to process the events in my life, and I wrote to document my steps towards healing. It was the writing that honestly helped me heal the most. Once I realized I had accumulated hundreds of poems, I discovered that publishing them could be another step in my journey. 

After all, I had only begun writing to get all the negative thoughts out of my head, so publishing them was the final step to rid myself of them. I began to read them back and found a story in those pages that I barely recognized was my own. A story that documented the truths of mental illness and the teenage experience, and I decided it was a story I wanted to tell.

Your poems explore youth mental health with honesty and vulnerability. What do you hope young readers—especially those facing similar challenges—take away from your work?

My goal for this piece was that it could be a guiding light for other youth in a similar situation. That they would be able to read my work, see themselves in it, and know that the story works out in the end. I hope to give them some peace in knowing that they are not alone and for them to find the same catharsis I found in writing this piece as they read it.

As a young creator, what advice would you offer to other aspiring writers—especially students—who want to tell their stories but might feel nervous or unsure about where to start? Could you also share what the publishing process was like for you, and what you learned from that experience as a first-time author?  

Advice I would give to other young authors is: Just do it. Just write the book, write the poem, write the song, write anything. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about it or if you even want to publish it. Just write something that makes you happy. Especially today with the rise of generative AI, authors and poets are crucial. AI will never truly be able to capture the depth of human emotion like a poet can or write a modern classic like an author can. So, if you have an idea, share it. Every single person has at some point had an idea for a book but doubted their ability to write it. But all that matters is the idea! Everyone has a story to tell, so tell it! It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect or even any good, just write it all down and I promise that when it’s done, you’ll have something there that’s worth telling. 

Secondly, I would tell them to read as much as they can. With the increase in anti-intellectualism today, preserving the art of literature is crucial. Read something old, read something new, read things you don’t quite understand yet, read a really bad book just for the sake of reading something someone wrote. Have opinions on classics and debate them with people. Read Shakespeare aloud on the floor of your room. The only way to become a good writer is to read; those two things can never be separated. Consume poetry and literature like it is the only food that can sustain you. Because in the end, regardless of what people nowadays might say, it is what sustains humanity. 

On another note, here is a tidbit of my publishing experience and how I did it, to give other young authors some insight into the process. However, I will say that publishing as a young author had its ups and downs. It was difficult, trying to navigate publishing platforms while balancing regular twelfth grade. I submitted my anthology to a handful of traditional publishing houses, which taught me how to write a literary CV, a submission letter, and more technical aspects I had never thought of before. While it was rejected by these publishing houses, I received feedback that I was able to use to refine the piece. 

While it is hard hearing the word “No”, it is crucial that authors learn how to accept rejection, and I am grateful for this experience for that lesson. It had always been my goal to be a published author before I graduated high school, so I decided to self-publish through a platform associated with Amazon. While I waited to turn 18 to officially use the platform, I got a group of beta readers, did my final edits, worked on the cover design and started making some promotional materials. Once I was 18, I was able to submit the book and follow all the steps towards publishing and the book was released this year at the end of April! I would recommend this process to anyone, especially younger or first-time authors looking to publish via the non-traditional route!

Are there any poets, books, or pieces of writing that inspired you—either creatively or personally—as you developed your voice as a writer?

There are several poets and books that have inspired me as a writer in both style and subject matter. My favourite poets are Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath. Emily Dickinson has inspired several of my poems, most notably the ones that discuss nature, as I aspired to emulate certain aspects of her style. I do have one poem in particular that is titled “Ode to Emily”, in which I reflect on a poem of hers (Hope is the Thing With Feathers) and find new meanings in her definition of hope. I would say that Sylvia Plath is a poet who has continued to inspire me personally, especially during the years I was writing The Art of Moving On. I was inspired by her ability to put her feelings into words in a way that managed to so perfectly capture what I felt. Her pieces inspired me to write because they proved that I was not alone in my emotions, nor my desire to translate them onto paper. 

For readers who would like to explore your poetry, where can they purchase a physical or digital copy of The Art of Moving On?

The Art of Moving On is available for purchase on Amazon globally, click here!

Your poetry has already made a powerful impact—can readers look forward to more writing in the future? What’s next for you on your creative journey?

Oh definitely! I am always writing more poetry and am pretty sure that at some point there will be a volume two, just give me a few years. My current focus though, is a novel that I am in the process of drafting! There is very little I can share, as it is still in the early stages. Although I can say that it will be a fantasy story that focuses on the beauty of queer love and sapphic representation, along with the importance of imagination and perseverance. 

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Charlotte Collins is proof that it’s never too early to make an impact through writing. By fearlessly capturing the complexities of growing up and the triumph of moving forward, she offers readers both comfort and inspiration. Whether you are a student, educator, or lifelong lover of literature, The Art of Moving On is a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. Interested in learning more about the creative journeys of Canadian authors? Check out more of our Hooked on Books interviews, such as our spotlight on Roz MacLean’s More Than Words—a beautifully illustrated exploration of expression and identity—and Kristy Jackson’s middle-grade gem Mortified, which uses humour to embrace the awkwardness of growing up.

Further Reading

If Charlotte’s journey and poetry anthology resonates with you, we invite you to explore more stories that connect creativity with student well-being and growth. Our blog on Reasons Why Films & Movies Benefit Student Learning and Mental Health looks at how film can be a powerful teaching tool to support student mental health, while our Hooked on Books feature on Call Me Al explores a compelling interview with Canadian author Eric Walters and spoken word artist Wali Shah, who, like Charlotte, began his creative journey as a student poet and now inspires youth across the country. Together, these stories highlight the many ways young voices can use creativity to make a lasting impact on themselves and others.