His time has come: Ireland's next president is also a poet
A poet, human rights campaigner and football club president will be the next president of Ireland after a late surge of support. Michael D Higgins, aged 70, whose poem, When Will My Time Come, you can read here, was the Irish Labour party candidate. He is also president of Galway United FC, who play in the League of Ireland. His defeated rivals included Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness. Higgins’s...
29th October 2011
Poems for Remembrance Day
Dear WOL members,
If anyone has a poem with the theme of Remembrance and would like it to be considered for an exhibition in the Holy Trinity Church, Hull next month, then please send it to me at winstonplowes@googlemail.com. If chosen your poem could be supporting the artist Martin Waters' ...
27th October 2011
Purple Patch stages poetry convention
Purple Patch poetry magazine, which has been publishing for 35 years, is holding a poetry convention next year at the Barlow theatre, Spring Walk, Langley, near Oldbury, Birmingham, from Friday eve...
26th October 2011
The diary of a spoken word bird
We asked Cardiff-based performer Mab Jones to give us her view of the hectic poetry circuit. Here is her first despatch:
"I'm usually veering dizzily from gig to gaff to launch to lunch, and ho...
26th October 2011
Mark Mace Smith is the new Superhero of Slam
Mark Mace Smith might have lost the love of his life but in telling us about it he was able to persuade the judges to crown him the new Commonword Superhero of Slam after last night's exciting gra...
25th October 2011
Iain Sinclair in Hastings old town
Writer Iain Sinclair will be reading from Postcards from the 7th Floor, his poetic collaboration with artists Oona Grimes, at the Stade Hall, The Stade, in Hastings old town on Thursday 27 October...
23rd October 2011
WOL's Wigan slam stars set foot in Sale
The winner and runner-up at last month’s Wigan / Write Out Loud heat of the Superheroes of Slam contest, Louise Fazackerley and Rachel McGladdery, are appearing along with another top slammer, Benn...
23rd October 2011
National Poetry Competition: lastminute.chance!
It's not too late to enter the 2011 National Poetry Competition - and if you're thinking it's far too high a prize to aim for, think again. The 2010 winning poem was by an unpublished poet. Paul Ad...
22nd October 2011
Ted Hughes festival at Hebden Bridge
Hebden Bridge plays host, appropriately, to the Ted Hughes festival from Friday 21 October to Sunday 23 October, at various venues including Hebden Library in Cheetham Street. The three-day weekend...
22nd October 2011
Catherine's Edinburgh Fringe slam-winning poem video
If you want to know what excellence is in a slam poem, and in its performance, look no further. Catherine Brogan won the fringe slam in August with a magnificent poem about Omagh, where she grew up...
20th October 2011
Saturday Night Writers at the Poetry Cafe
Saturday Night Writers with Adele Ward at the Poetry Café in Covent Garden presents poets Peter Philips, Mike Horwood and David Cooke, plus open mic, with a chance to submit poems for an annual a...
20th October 2011
Roll up for the Malton festival poetry slam
The Speakers’ Corner, the team behind York's monthly poetry and performance nights, have got together with the organisers of the second Malton literature festival to present a poetry slam with cash...
17th October 2011
Linda Chase: her final collection
The literary community was shocked and saddened earlier this year by the death of the founder of Manchester’s Poets & Players, Linda Chase. Thursday 20 October sees the launch of her final collecti...
17th October 2011
Poems that are really a list
In our creative writing sessions in Marsden Library we have been playing with the idea of list poems, and Francesca Beard’s is a superb example, not least with its title, The poem that was really a...
17th October 2011
Search for best performance poet in Wales
Literature Wales is on the hunt for the best performance poet in Wales. Do you have what it takes to impress the judges in just five minutes and walk away with the first prize of £500?
The firs...
14th October 2011
Swedish poet wins Nobel prize
Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer has won the Nobel prize for literature – the first poet to take the honour since 1996. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages. The judges praised hi...
14th October 2011
Archbishop of Canterbury at London poetry night
The Archbishop of Canterbury and well-known poet, Rowan Williams, will be reading some of his poems at a london poetry event to raise money for the homeless. He is appearing with Clare Brant and Ru...
14th October 2011
John Burnside wins Forward poetry prize
Scottish poet John Burnside has won the 2011 Forward prize for best collection, after being shortlisted in 2000, 2005, and 2007. Burnside’s Black Cat Bone beat collections from the Oxford professor...
14th October 2011
Seeing Bury in a new light
Bury is throwing open its doors on Friday night in a celebration of cultural life in the town – and Write Out Loud is taking part. An open mic event compered by poet Gemma Lees takes place from 6...
13th October 2011
Michael Murphy and Matt Simpson: a celebration at the Bluecoat
A celebration of the lives of two Liverpool-based poets is being staged on 16 October when Gwyneth Lewis, John Lucas, Maurice Riordan, Lawrence Sail and George Szirtes present a critical tribute of...
13th October 2011
Back to business at Write Out Loud Wigan tonight
After the excitement of last month’s slam heat, Write Out Loud Wigan gets back down to business as normal tonight, 13 October, at the Tudor House, Wigan, with a more conventional evening of words, ...
13th October 2011
Anna McCrory at Hammer and Tongue Oxford
Anna McCrory, the newly-elected president of Oxford University Poetry Society, is performing at Hammer and Tongue Oxford tonight. Anna, who has appeared at many a Write Out Loud event up north in t...
11th October 2011
Deadline nears for Troubadour prize
There's still time to enter the competition for the £2,500 Troubadour international poetry prize. Susan Wicks and David Harsent are the judges, with both reading all poems - not always the case wit...
9th October 2011
Poetry jam at Marsden jazz festival
There’s a poetry jam with Write Out Loud at the Marsden jazz festival near Huddersfield today, Sunday 9 October. You are all welcome to bring your poems and strut your stuff between 11am and 1pm at...
9th October 2011
Mystery tour with Paper Planes
Creative writing members of Manchester’s Paper Planes Second Saturday workshop are going on a mystery tour this Saturday as a departure from their usual way of doing things.
Anthony Sides and...
8th October 2011
It's National Poetry Day
From London's South Bank to Manchester's Droylsden library, events are taking place around the country today to mark National Poetry Day. Southbank Centre artist in residence Simon Armitage, Jackie...
6th October 2011
Like to write poetry at Ted Hughes' house? - last chance for a place
There are just a handful of places left on this unique Monday to Saturday Arvon Foundation course in the idyllic surroundings of Lumb Bank, once home to Ted Hughes, and in the village of Heptonsta...
5th October 2011
Hugo Williams at Exeter poetry festival
Hugo Williams, Frances Leviston, Anne Caldwell, Harry Guest and Rachael Boast are among the many poets lined for Exeter poetry festival for 6-9 October. Also are on the bill are the bards of Exeter...
4th October 2011
Mining for poetry: new open mic in Cornwall
A new open mic event, the Poetry Mine, is being launched tonight in St Agnes, on the north Cornish coast, by Write Out Loud regular Ann Foxglove at the Miners and Mechanics Institute. It’s at 7.30p...
4th October 2011
WOL's Gemma Lees launches book at Bury library
Write out Loud’s Middleton organiser Gemma Lees is launching her new book, A Method in my Madness, at Bury library on Monday 3 October at 7.30pm, in the run-up to National Poetry Day. Her work off...
1st October 2011
