Dharker and McMillan to judge Poetry Business competition
Imtiaz Dharker and Ian McMillan will be judging the Poetry Business book and pamphlet competition. Entrants are invited to submit a collection of 20 pages of poetry. The deadline is 1 March. More details
31st December 2019
Deadline day for WoLF/Write Out Loud competition on 'vision' theme
The deadline is tonight for Wolverhampton Literature Festival’s 2020 poetry competition, in conjunction with Write Out Loud, on the theme of “vision”. This year's judge Roz Goddard, pictured, says she's partial to poems "that are unexpected, inventive, filmic with a sumptuous spread, playful poems, ...
31st December 2019
'We are a tribe of eyes that look upward'
Alberto Rios is a highly acclaimed American poet who lives and teaches in Arizona. I found this poem of community and peace in Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, published by Grays...
27th December 2019
'Their harness bells dulled by the cold, their breath steam, all while we were dreaming'
I've been asked if I believe in ghosts, and my answer is, 'Well, now, there's very little fun in NOT believing in ghosts.' Here's a poem by Austin Smith, who lives in Illinois, about being encouraged ...
27th December 2019
Never mind the critics - TS Eliot would have liked new film of Cats, says estate's administrator
TS Eliot would probably have enjoyed the film adaptation of Cats despite the critical mauling it has received from reviewers around the world, according to the administrator of the poet’s estate, the ...
20th December 2019
Lorna Goodison awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
The Jamaican poet Lorna Goodison has been awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry, Buckingham Palace has announced. Lorna Goodison is Jamaica’s poet laureate, and over her 34-year career has publish...
18th December 2019
What I Heard on the Last Cassette Player in the World: Ben Ray, Indigo Dreams
Ben Ray’s second collection is a medley of experimental poems alongside absurd, surreal propositions apparently thrown out ad lib, and sincerely felt and expressed meditations on political, environmen...
17th December 2019
Festive poetry nights ... please let us know about any holiday cancellations
Calling all poetry organisers … can you please ensure that your gig listings are correct over the Christmas and New Year holiday period? If you’re taking a break over the festive season, please go in ...
17th December 2019
How Time Is In Fields: Jean Atkin, Indigo Dreams
Poet, writer and educator Jean Atkin has worked on a variety of residencies in both England and Scotland and provides workshops and readings to schools, festivals and community organisations. Her poet...
15th December 2019
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
There will be a festive atmosphere at Bolton Write Out Loud – well, the odd mince pie, at least - on Sunday 15 December at Bolton Socialist Club. Entry is £1 plus £1 raffle to this open-mic poetry nig...
15th December 2019
Louise Fazackerley launches 'The Lolitas' collection
A collection by leading spoken word poet Louise Fazackerley that includes the experience of working with groomed girls in the care system, and is in part a response to Nabokov's novel Lolita and the #...
14th December 2019
'You bending down with your tall mouth to make the softest landing on mine'
Here's a poem about something that each of us receives, though only once. If you didn't get yours written into a poem, you've got it put away somewhere. Wyatt Townley lives in Kansas, and 'First Kiss'...
11th December 2019
The Poetry of Worcestershire anthology, Offa's Press
It is the county of Woodbine Willie, Basil d’Oliveira, apples, pears and plums, a certain kind of sauce, floods, Elgar, and steam trains. Some poets appear a little diffident at first about its appeal...
10th December 2019
Raymond Antrobus wins £5,000 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award
The multi-award winning poet Raymond Antrobus has won the £5,000 Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year award for his debut collection The Perseverance.
The Perseverance has al...
10th December 2019
The Night I Spoke Irish in Surrey: Richard Hawtree, Dempsey & Windle
Perhaps you need to be as well read as Richard Hawtree to truly appreciate the poetry in his rich, debut pamphlet collection. On the other hand, maybe it doesn’t matter. Most of the poems are inspired...
10th December 2019
Never mind the election: it's Write out Loud Wigan at the Old Courts on Thursday
Forget about the election – once you’ve cast your vote, of course – it’s Write Out Loud Wigan in the Bailiff Bar of the Old Courts arts centre on Thursday 12 December. The message is: “Political poetr...
10th December 2019
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Members of Stockport Write Out Loud meet on Monday 8 December to share their poems at Stockport art gallery. Entry is a £1.50 donation to this group with strong links to the wider community, and it st...
9th December 2019
Tributes paid to innovative poet and protest verse editor Reuben Woolley
Fellow poets have delivered many tributes on social media to the innovative poet and online editor Reuben Woolley, who has died after a long illness at the age of 67.
Reuben Woolley, who was origin...
5th December 2019
Ripening Cherries: ed.by David Bingham and Simon Fletcher, Offa's Press
In recent times, the Japanese art of haiku and its related forms, the tanka and the haibun, have become increasingly popular in poetry circles throughout the UK. Offa’s Press recently played an active...
5th December 2019
Michaela Coplen wins £2,000 Troubadour prize
A young American currently studying at Oxford University, Michaela Coplen, pictured, has won the £2,000 Troubadour international prize with her poem ‘Re-branding’. Kathryn Maris, one of the two compet...
3rd December 2019
'The woods look as if they might have a thousand years ago'
Sometimes a poem can seem to be like a jeweller's setting, in which a gemlike image is presented. This one, by Chase Twichell, who lives in upstate New York, has one of those perfect gems of observati...
3rd December 2019
Inspirational (2)
In the last post I was writing about poets who inspired me, who gave me the aspiration to write. Poets who taught me what I needed to be writing about, and sometimes how.
There are other kinds of i...
1st December 2019
