Women's poetry anthology seeks 'hellcat heroines'
The publishers of an anthology of women’s poetry called Furies are seeking submissions. The deadline is 30 March, and all profits from the anthology will be donated to rape crisis, a charity supporting cictims of rape and sexual violence. Publishers For Books' Sake say: “We interpret Furies in the widest possible sense, and your hellcat heroines may be modern, mythic, animal or cyborg, women from ...
31st January 2014
Birmingham's Roy McFarlane clocks on at the Works' Canteen
Former Birmingham poet laureate Roy McFarlane will be appearing at the Works' Canteen, at the Black Country Living Museum, Tipton Road, Dudley, on Tuesday 11 February at 7.30pm. The Black Country’s newest live literature event will also feature stories and music, and is hosted by the museum's poet-i...
29th January 2014
Protest poet's tribute to father remembers first world war deaths
Veteran protest poet Attila the Stockbroker has written a poem honouring the memory of his father, a frontline soldier at the age of 17, to mark the centenary of the first world war. His father, Bill...
29th January 2014
Alice Oswald at Manchester's Poets and Players
Award-winning poet Alice Oswald will be reading at Manchester’s Poets and Players at John Rylands library, Deansgate, on Saturday 8 February, at 2.30pm. Last year Oswald won the Warwick prize for writ...
29th January 2014
New year - and it's a new look for Write Out Loud
Write Out Loud has kicked off the new year with a new-look front page, including bigger, bolder presentation of our lead story and main picture, and a fresh look to the Gig Guide. The new Poetry Direc...
28th January 2014
Novelist Louis de Bernières reads his poetry at StAnza
Novelist Louis de Bernières will be launching the 17th StAnza poetry festival, one of the top poetry festivals in the UK, at St Andrews from 4-9 March by reading from his debut collection of poetry, I...
27th January 2014
Deadline nears for Poetry School/Pighog competition
Catherine Smith and Simon Barraclough are the judges of this year’s Poetry School / Pighog poetry pamphlet competition. Entrants should submit a maximum of 10 poems. The closing date is 31 January 201...
27th January 2014
Women's poetry anthology seeks 'hellcat heroines'
The publishers of an anthology of women’s poetry called Furies are seeking submissions. The deadline is 30 March, and all profits from the anthology will be donated to rape crisis, a charity supportin...
27th January 2014
Manchester festivals offer blank sheet to writers, musicians
Manchester literature festival and Manchester jazz festival are teaming up to launch The Blank Sheet, a commission opportunity for writers and musician-composers to collaborate on a new work, to be pr...
26th January 2014
Write Out Loud at Middleton on Sunday
The new-look Write Out Loud Middleton meets on Sunday 26 January at the Ring O’Bells, St Leonards Square, Middleton, at 7.30pm. The evening’s hosts are Her and the Poet, with special guest Mothers and...
26th January 2014
Festival for indie publishers sells out in advance
A festival for independent publishers, with talks on digital innovations and communications and social media, and ending with a live poetry event, has sold out a week in advance, its organisers have s...
25th January 2014
Story of Jewish poet's 1930s flight from Germany retold in play
The story of Jewish refugee and poet Karen Gershon, who escaped from Germany to Britain in 1938 at the age of 15, will be told in Karen’s Way – A Kindertransport Life, at Seven Arts Leeds on Saturday...
24th January 2014
Cathedral competition judged by Helen Tookey
Helen Tookey, managing editor of poetry publishers Carcanet, will be judging this year’s £450 Manchester Cathedral poetry competition. Poems submitted should be broadly religious or spiritual in natur...
24th January 2014
Publisher comes out fighting after losing funding
An independent press with a strong focus on poetry is being forced to look at new sources of funding, after losing all its £30,000 annual cash support from a private backer “with immediate effect”. Ey...
22nd January 2014
Kate Noakes to judge Prole Laureate competition
The deadline is 1 February for entry to the £140 Prole Laureate magazine poetry competition. The judge is Kate Noakes. The winning poem will be published in Prole 13 in April 2014. More details
22nd January 2014
Sinéad Morrissey's Parallax collection wins TS Eliot Prize
Sinéad Morrissey has been named winner of the TS Eliot Prize for the best collection of poetry published in 2013. The award, by judges Ian Duhig, Imtiaz Dharker, and Vicki Feaver, came at a reception ...
22nd January 2014
New host promises surprises at Write Out Loud Sale
The first Write Out Sale of 2014 kicks off at the Waterside arts centre on Tuesday 21 January, with guest poets Geneviève L Walsh, pictured, and Marianne Daniels, new features - and a new host, John D...
21st January 2014
Diplomat reads poems to mark 20th anniversary of genocide
Rwanda’s high commissioner in London, Williams Nkurunziza, will be reading his poems to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, in which more than 500,000 people died, at Lumen, T...
21st January 2014
Sign up for a slot at Wirral festival's Poetry Proms
The Poetry Proms, offering many opportunities for poets to read or perform their poetry, return to New Brighton this summer on Sunday 6 July, during Wirral Festival of Firsts. Now is the time to sign ...
20th January 2014
Enthralling night, bumper crowd at prize readings
If it were up to the audience, Dannie Abse would have been named the runaway winner of the TS Eliot Prize, for the best collection of poetry published in 2013. The cheers and roars as the 90-year-old ...
19th January 2014
Wit and wisdom of compere almost steals the show
His picture may not appear in the programme … but the warm and witty compering of Barnsley’s Ian McMillan was a key factor in the smooth success of the TS Eliot prize readings at the Royal Festival Ha...
19th January 2014
Write Out Loud at Bolton on Sunday
Calling all open micers: step up at Write Out Loud Bolton on Sunday, 19 January, with host Jeffarama! (Jeff Dawson), email jeffinbolton@yahoo.com, at the Brooklyn pub, Green Lane, Bolton. Entry is £1,...
16th January 2014
Editor defies odds to launch magazine, one year later than planned
This was no ordinary launch of a new poetry magazine; it should have happened a year ago. But the debut of The Screech Owl in January 2013 had to be postponed indefinitely after its young editor, Gran...
16th January 2014
End of January deadline for £1,000 Kent & Sussex poetry competition
The deadline is 31 January for the £1,000 competition run by Kent & Sussex Poetry Society. Pascale Petit will be the judge, and she will read all the entries. More details
16th January 2014
Write Out Loud at Marsden tonight
Members of Write Out Loud Marsden - home of the annual Marsden poetry jam - will be meeting on Wednesday 15 January for an open-floor poetry evening at Marsden library, at the Mechanics Hall in Peel...
15th January 2014
John Hegley takes the plunge at Southwark
John Hegley will be unveiling "John Hegley's SPUDfest by the water" at Canada Water library in south-east London on Thursday 6 February as part of Southwark Libraries’ fifth Rhyme and Reason poetry fe...
13th January 2014
Write Out Loud at Stockport tonight
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting on Monday 13 January at Stockport art gallery and to read and discuss their poetry. The group also creates a collage poem at each meeting. Entry is...
13th January 2014
Two down, one to go? Michael Symmons Roberts wins Costa prize
Michael Symmons Roberts has taken a second poetry prize for his collection, Drysalter. After winning the Forward prize last October, he won the £5,000 Costa poetry prize as well on Monday night, 6 Jan...
13th January 2014
The Best British Poetry 2013: edited by Ahren Warner, Salt
In his candid introduction to this anthology, editor Ahren Warner uses words such as “dubious” and “absurd” to describe the idea of selecting the “best” poetry. Warner, who is also editor of Poetry Lo...
12th January 2014
Finding refuge from the streets of London: poetry lends a hand
You might call it poetry with a purpose. As organiser Ruth O’Callaghan puts it: “It is so wonderful that poetry – which many people regard as airy-fairy - can be shown to have a practical usage, provi...
10th January 2014
Write Out Loud at Wigan tonight
Regulars at Write Out Loud Wigan will be back for another rollicking good night of open mic poetry at the Tudor House hotel, Wigan on Thursday 9 January. Entry is free, and it all kicks off from 8.30p...
9th January 2014
Prole seeks poets to put together in joint collection
Prole magazine are looking for three or four poets who have a pamphlet-length collection ready to submit. The aim is to publish a full collection featuring these poets. Prole say they are “looking for...
9th January 2014
The Poetry of Sex - with a little help from the Poetry Library
Like other anthology compilers before her, editor Sophie Hannah sought help from the Poetry Library in putting together her selection. The Observer reports, in a piece laced with puns about “coupling ...
7th January 2014
Wanted: performers for Glastonbury's 2014 poetry stage
The organisers of the poetry stage at Glastonbury festival are looking for experienced spoken word performers for the 2014 festival. Their website says: We’re looking for applications from experience...
6th January 2014
Templar launches quarterly short poetry pamphlets award
Templar Poetry has introduced a new poetry pamphlet award, that will result in four new short pamphlets each year. Submissions are open for the first award until 3 March 2014. Poets are invited to sub...
5th January 2014
Awards aimed at young writers aged up to 18 and living in north
The deadline is 17 January to apply for two awards aimed at young writers aged up to 18 living in the north of England. The Cuckoo Young Writers award offers a prize worth £500 to a promising young wr...
5th January 2014
George Szirtes and Helen Mort to lead Writers' Centre masterclasses
George Szirtes and Helen Mort will be leading new workshops for poets run by Writers’ Centre Norwich early in the new year. A Masterclass series (£240/£200 for three workshops) for advanced poets incl...
5th January 2014
Ringing in the new Write Out Loud at Middleton tonight
The revamped Write Out Middleton with new host Norman Warwick meets at the Ring O’ Bells, St Leonards Square, Middleton, on Sunday 5 January at 7pm. The Ring O'Bells is opposite the 900-year-old St. L...
5th January 2014
Scandals, royalty, and a great loss: poetry's big news in 2013
It was a year of scandalous discoveries and worries about the future of poetry publishing, and also a year in which poets were celebrated with a reception at Buckingham palace. Above all, it was marke...
5th January 2014
Catch the Write Out Loud interview on Radio Wildfire
There are still a few days left to hear an interview given by Write Out Loud’s news editor, Greg Freeman, to Dave Reeves of Radio Wildfire, the internet radio station broadcasting from the West Midlan...
2nd January 2014
Welcome to 2014! Here are some poetry prizes to try for
It’s 2014 – and a happy new year to you all from everyone at Write Out Loud. Hope it's a good one for you, and for us, too. So what about those New Year resolutions? Some of you might be hoping to win...
1st January 2014
Clive James talks about poetry, Dante, and illness on Radio 4
Clive James read his poem, ‘Nimrod’, about the death of his father in the second world war, in a wide-ranging interview with Andrew Marr on Radio 4’s Start the Week on Monday 23 December. James’s tran...
1st January 2014
Tribute to poetic protest as all Pussy Riot members are freed
English PEN has welcomed the news that all members of Pussy Riot have now been freed from jail in Russia – and paid tribute to the way that the protest poetry anthology, Poems for Pussy Riot, helped ...
1st January 2014
