Caroline Smith and the poetry book 'that needed to be written'
“I thought this was a book that needed to be written – and that I was in a unique position to write it.” Caroline Smith is the wife of Labour MP Barry Gardiner, and has worked for him in his Brent North constituency office on immigration and asylum cases for a number of years.
She is also a poet, and earlier this year published The Immigration Handbook, a collection of stories of cases that are...
30th November 2016
Umbrellas of Edinburgh anthology, Freight Books
The title of this anthology is either a comment on the weather or, with its echoes of ‘Les Parapluies de Cherbourg’, a veiled nod to “the Auld Alliance”. This landmark anthology contains the work of 70 writers who either live in Edinburgh or have connections with it. The editorial brief to the write...
28th November 2016
'Every night I tell her about the fish who died for her'
We've been selecting poems for this column for more than ten years and I can't remember ever publishing a poem about a cat. But here at last is a cat, a lovely old cat. Ron Koertge lives in California...
28th November 2016
Discovering Urdu poet Ghalib and his ghazals
There’s a chance to learn about the renowned Urdu poet Ghalib on Thursday 1 December at the Centre for the Study of Pakistan at SOAS, University of London, at Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square. Noveli...
28th November 2016
100 Prized Poems: 25 years of the Forward Books, Faber
Twenty-five years ago the first Forward prizes were awarded, going to Thom Gunn (best collection), Simon Armitage (most promising young poet), and Jackie Kay (best single poem). In 1992, as Forward pr...
27th November 2016
Centres of Cataclysm, 50 years of Modern Poetry in Translation, Bloodaxe
Modern Poetry in Translation was founded by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort, went into a splendid second incarnation under David and Helen Constantine, and now continues to flourish edited by Sasha Du...
27th November 2016
'Take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me' by Stuart Buck is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me’ by Stuart Buck, a regular contributor to Write Out Loud. In a quick Q&A Stuart said his principal poetic inf...
27th November 2016
Kate Tempest on shortlist for £5,000 Costa poetry award
Kate Tempest’s Let Them Eat Chaos, which is both an album and a book of verse, has been shortlisted for the £5,000 Costa poetry award. Let Them Eat Chaos is a long narrative poem that Tempest recently...
26th November 2016
Bang Said The Gun plans nationwide tour next year
The uproarious poetry night Bang Said The Gun is embarking on a national tour in 2017. The popular spoken word event – think poetry plus party games - which was established by co-founders Dan Cockrill...
25th November 2016
Hilariously terrible? So bad it's brilliant? Contestants line up for anti-slam national final
Contestants from all over the country are lining up to take part in the national final of the Anti-Slam Championships next month. Anti-Slam? Some of the top spoken word artists in the UK will be doing...
24th November 2016
Omens and hope in showcase of poetry's young stars at the Troubadour
A wealth of young poetic talent was on show at the Troubadour in London on Monday night in an evening curated by 2016 Eric Gregory award winner Dom Bury, a member of the Coffee-House Poetry team at th...
24th November 2016
What It's Like To Be Alive: Deryn Rees-Jones, Seren
Deryn Rees-Jones is professor of poetry at Liverpool University. After her first degree in English at the University of Wales, Bangor, she completed a PhD in contemporary women’s poetry at Birkbeck Co...
23rd November 2016
Leonard Cohen, songwriter, poet and novelist, dies aged 82
The singer-songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen has died aged 82. The news was announced via his official Facebook page, which said a memorial would be held in Los Angeles at a later date.
C...
22nd November 2016
Write Out Loud Woking at the New Inn tonight
Write Out Loud Woking meets at the New Inn, Send in Surrey on Monday 21 November for another night of free, open-mic poetry. Your hosts are Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood. Arrive from 7.30pm for 8pm sta...
21st November 2016
Poetry's man of mystery Brian Bilston reveals (nearly) all to Write Out Loud
At a recent poetry event Write Out Loud came face to face with the man behind poetry’s “man of mystery” Brian Bilston, whose fans include plumbers and police officers, dancers and dentists, and people...
21st November 2016
New batch of poetry performers are featured in latest Nationwide TV ads
A fresh batch of spoken word performers are featured in the latest TV adverts by Nationwide Building Society on subjects like house-sharing while yearning to own your own home. Poems by Laurie Bolger,...
21st November 2016
MUMB: Cathy Crabb, Flapjack Press
One of civilisation’s best-kept secrets is that the Perfect Parent does not exist, although countless manuals, self-help guides, and people who enjoy occupying moral high grounds would have you believ...
20th November 2016
'London Victoria' by Travis Brow is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘London Victoria’ by Travis Brow, a tale of unrequited love. The poem has been praised by Write Out Loud regulars like Harry O’Neill, for its “lovely rhymed ...
17th November 2016
Deadline nears for £2,000 Causley prize
The former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion will be judging poems shortlisted for the £2,000 Charles Causley international poetry prize, set up in memory of the Cornish poet. Motion said “‘I’m looking ...
16th November 2016
Rosie Wilkinson takes helm at Write Out Loud Marsden tonight
Young local poet Rosie Wilkinson, pictured, is taking over as co-ordinator at Write Out Loud Marsden, the regular open-floor night that meets at Marsden library on the third Wednesday of each month.
...16th November 2016
Pamphlets by Kuli Kohli, Jeff Phelps, Bo Crowder: Offa's Press
Offa’s Press has scored a hat trick - three publications from Kuli Kohli, Jeff Phelps and Bo Crowder that all deserve applause.
Kuli Kohli was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, but has lived in England...
15th November 2016
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
Write Out Loud returns for another night of open mic poetry at Bolton Socialist Club on Tuesday 15 November. Your hosts are Jeff Dawson (Jeffarama!) and Gordon Zola. Entry is £1 plus raffle, and doors...
15th November 2016
Laura Taylor at Write Out Loud Sale tonight
Fiery performance poet Laura Taylor will be a guest at Write Out Loud Sale on Tuesday 15 November at the Waterside arts centre, Sale, ahead of her big gig next month supporting Attila the Stockbroker ...
15th November 2016
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting at Stockport art gallery on Monday 14 November for another open-floor evening of sharing poems. Entry is a £1 donation, and it starts at 7pm. Each month the gr...
14th November 2016
Remembrance night of anti-war poetry and music in Bolton
A Remembrance poetry and music night will be held at Bolton Little Theatre on Saturday 12 November when Bard Company – Jeff Dawson, Ian Whiteley, Gordon Zola and Tony Kinsella - will perform When Wil...
12th November 2016
Poetry in the Outer Hebrides: Stornowords in Lewis moves to new home
An open mic poetry night in the Outer Hebrides is having a “housewarming” at its new venue on Saturday night, 12 November. Stornowords, which showcases established and local poets as well as holding a...
12th November 2016
Lesley Saunders wins Stephen Spender prize for translation
Lesley Saunders has won the 2016 Stephen Spender prize for translation for Poem by Maria Teresa Horta, translated from the Portuguese. Writing in the Guardian, one of the judges, Sean O’Brien, describ...
11th November 2016
Poets team up with clinical psychologists at mental health conference
Performance poets Dean Atta, pictured, and Yomi Sode will be taking part in a conference aimed at bringing together the worlds of poetry and clinical psychology in a new approach towards global mental...
10th November 2016
Write Out Loud Wigan at the Old Courts tonight
Expect the unexpected at Write Out Loud Wigan, the inimitable open mic poetry night that meets at the Old Courts, Wigan tonight, Thursday 10 November. Entry is free, and it begins at 8.30pm. More deta...
10th November 2016
'The windshield the anvil, the trike the hammer, the marriage the forge'
Garrison Keillor has used a number of George Bilgere's poems on The Writer's Almanac, and I've used several in this column, and it seems neither of us can get quite enough of this writer's clear, hone...
9th November 2016
The Way the Crocodile Taught Me: Katrina Naomi, Seren
Crikey pepper as my grandad used to say (a child-friendly version of Christ Almighty, I believe) – what a story. Katrina Naomi tells us about her fraught childhood and adolescence in a tumble of brill...
9th November 2016
'Let America be America again, Let it be the dream it used to be'
Poetry is invoked as a rallying call in the US presidential election today as, in an eve-of-poll New York Times article, Harry Belafonte writes: “What do we have to lose? Everything.”
He starts by ...
8th November 2016
Anatomy of a prize-winning poem: how Abigail Parry won the Troubadour
What does it take to win a £5,000 international poetry competition? Judges Glyn Maxwell and Jane Yeh have offered up a few clues in their comments on Abigail Parry’s poem ‘Pasodoble With Lizards’, wh...
8th November 2016
Making a living as a poet: (1) ironing out some image problems
Poets could sharpen up their act, perform in more audience-friendly locations, rather than the upstairs rooms of pubs, and even make sure they iron their trousers if they want to earn more respect – a...
7th November 2016
Deadline nears for £1,000 Cafe Writers competition
Andrew McMillan will be judging the £1,000 Café Writers poetry competition. The deadline is 30 November. More details
PHOTOGRAPH: INNES MORRISON
7th November 2016
'I can't Stop' by Claire is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘I Can’t Stop’, by Claire. It’s a poem that celebrates an overflowing sense of creativity, even if “nobody can hear me”. She goes on to to say that she needs...
6th November 2016
Sunshine: Melissa Lee-Houghton, Penned in the Margins
There’s a received wisdom in modern poetry that says that you use as few words as possible to say as much as possible; a kind of austerity of the word. Every word has to earn its place in the line, ha...
5th November 2016
November poetry in Aldeburgh after all with weekend of events in town
A three-day poetry event that was organised by volunteers after this year’s Aldeburgh poetry festival was scrapped because of lack of funds got under way on Friday 4 November.
Poetry in Aldeburgh w...
4th November 2016
Another stab at the charts? Roger McGough teams up with Little Machine
Back in the 1960s he hit no 1 with Liverpool pop group The Scaffold. Now Roger McGough, Mersey poet and presenter of BBC’s Poetry Please, has teamed up with poetry band Little Machine to record 12 of...
1st November 2016
The public and the personal: reasons why Laura Taylor looks back in anger
Laura Taylor is angry … you can tell that from her T-shirt. But where does her anger come from? You can find more than a few clues in her poem ‘Dear Margaret’, written shortly after the death of form...
1st November 2016
