A TEENAGE poet will be joining a unique programme to help develop his skills as a performer.

The Scottish Book Trust has announced 15-year-old Devin McRoberts, from Paisley, will be one of seven teenage writers joining the What’s Your Story? programme.

Now in its fourth year, it has so far assisted more than 20 young people across Scotland to develop writing, illustration and performance projects.

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Devin hopes to address important issues such as mental health in his work.

He will be mentored by performance poet Jenny Lindsay throughout his journey.

Devin said: “Life is a stream of opportunities and I wanted to grab this one to help me develop by working with other people.

“I hope to add a twist to my poetry that will make my pieces more appealing to young people.

“I also want to highlight in my poetry that mental health is an important issue in society and the more we encourage people to talk about it, the more we can help them.”

Marc Lambert, CEO of the Scottish Book Trust, said the What’s Your Story? programme is a great way to highlight new and upcoming talent in the Scottish literary scene.

He added: “We are grateful to our funders for making this programme possible and also to our mentors for providing life-changing support and advice to the young people involved.

“We look forward to seeing the work they produce throughout the year.”

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As part of the What’s Your Story? initiative, the participants will plan and host StoryCon 2019 – Scotland’s biggest creative writing and illustration conference for young people.

Last year, this event took place in Glasgow and was attended by more than 100 young people.

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