Sister of murdered MP Jo Cox attends 'Poems of Hope' sessions after killing of Sir David Amess
Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater, who is the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, joined Batley Poets when they delivered Poems of Hope at the Green in Heckmondwike and Batley market place, West Yorkshire, as part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
Kim said on Twitter in the aftermath of the murder of Conservative MP Sir David Amess in his constituency in Leigh, Essex: “I wasn’t at all sure what...
30th October 2021
Film star's daughter and 'writing partner' wins Bridport prize with poem about great-grandfather
A poet who does much of her writing in collaboration with her mother, the actress Julie Andrews, has won the 2021 Bridport prize for poetry. Emma Walton Hamilton took the £5,000 prize with her poem ‘Over the Tannoy’, which judge Raymond Antrobus described as “a very ambitious, collaborative, multi-f...
29th October 2021
Poetry editor Amy Wack retires after 30 years with Seren
Poetry editor Amy Wack, who is retiring after 30 years at the independent publishers Seren, based in Bridgend, south Wales, has confessed in an interview that she has “an almost purely musical ear for...
24th October 2021
Irish president leads tributes to 'charm, wit and passion' of poet Brendan Kennelly
Tributes have been led by Ireland’s president after the death of Brendan Kennelly, who was described by the Irish Times as one of the country’s most popular poets, at the age of 85.
Kenelly was bei...
18th October 2021
Heaney’s landscape: five key places on poet’s inspirational map
The links between the poetry of Seamus Heaney and his Northern Ireland landscape have been made more accessible to visitors. Open Ground, a series of five locations which held great significance for H...
16th October 2021
'Clear and compelling voices': the TS Eliot prize shortlist is unveiled
Judges Glyn Maxwell (chair), Caroline Bird and Zaffar Kunial have chosen the 2021 TS Eliot prize shortlist from a record 177 poetry collections submitted by British and Irish publishers. The list comp...
14th October 2021
Seán Hewitt wins £5,000 Laurel prize
Seán Hewitt was won this year’s £5,000 Laurel prize for his debut collection Tongues of Fire. The Laurel prize, set up by the poet laureate Simon Armitage, is an annual award for the best collection o...
10th October 2021
Delayed by Covid ... but now Manchester's poetry library has opened its doors
Manchester Poetry Library has opened its doors at last. Its opening, which finally took place last month, was delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown. The north-west’s first poetry library is at Manchester M...
7th October 2021
Today! It's the big day ...
It's National Poetry Day! This year’s theme is Choice – and you can find out about some of the events taking place today on the organisation’s map here. The Reader charity, which recruits volunteers t...
7th October 2021
Boris Johnson quotes poet and praises the wealth of Stoke Poges
Boris Johnson found himself rooting around for metaphors among the dead in a country churchyard when he recruited the 18th century poet Thomas Gray to support his “levelling up” agenda in his speech a...
6th October 2021
'That eye-on-the-object look': Auden quoted by Labour leader at conference
We’ve had US president Joe Biden quoting Seamus Heaney, on more than one occasion – and last week the labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was citing WH Auden in his leader’s speech to the Labour party conf...
6th October 2021
'Joy Uncensored' film of poetic battler Joy France wins festival prize
A short documentary film about performance poet and rap battler Joy France has won the best documentary award at the Women Over 50 film festival. The documentary titled Joy Uncensored, made by Norther...
4th October 2021
That people thing … enjoying poetry for real at our live open-mic poetry venue again
For the past month or so Write Out Loud has been heralding the return of live, in-person open-mic poetry all over the country – and last night I experienced it for myself, on a cold, wet Thursday, the...
1st October 2021
