Chance to join a weekend masterclass with Helen Mort
Manchester’s Blank Media Collective is asking emerging poets to consider submitting for a weekend masterclass with leading young poet Helen Mort. The deadline for submissions is 1 March. Blank Media Collective is running four masterclasses on literature, illustration, performance, and fine art at Blankspace, Hulme Street, Manchester. Mort’s class will be on 12-13 April. The class begins on Frid...
27th February 2013
A door closes, another opens: Emma Decent's journey of discovery
A popular spoken word and poetry night in Todmorden is taking a break – but organiser Emma Decent is not looking back. Magic Words came to a close last month when its venue closed down, but poet and host Emma is now involved in her own project which sees her extending her writing and performance ...
27th February 2013
'Mildly erotic' anthology issues strict rules on metre
The editors of an anthology of “mildly erotic” verse are calling for submissions, with no limit placed on the number of poems you can send, but with the emphasis very definitely on metre. The Emma...
27th February 2013
In a nutshell: putting words to faces
This is the Write Out Loud exercise for February. It’s all about editing, and economy. Think of 10 people you know to varying degrees. Include a member of your family, someone you don’t know the n...
27th February 2013
Laura Taylor at Wigan Pier in Diggers festival fundraiser tonight
Write Out Loud’s Laura Taylor will be performing her poetry tonight at the Orwell, Wigan Pier, on Wednesday 27 February at a fundraising concert for the 3rd Wigan Diggers festival later this year. ...
27th February 2013
Tony Harrison's v. and the commodification of outrage
For reasons I can't remember I have two copies of Tony Harrison's collected poems. Perhaps I think one will illuminate the other. I don't read either of them very often. If I have a session which m...
24th February 2013
Monkey Poet to warm up Huddersfield literature festival
The Monkey Poet will be the warm-up act for this year’s Huddersfield literature festival, taking place from 14-17 March. In his pre-festival performance on 7 March the performance poet plays 16 gre...
24th February 2013
Write Out Loud at Middleton on Sunday
Catherine Coward is the guest poet at Write Out Loud Middleton, at the Ring O’Bells, St Leonard’s Square, Middleton on Sunday 24 February, at 7pm. Contact: katie.haigh@sky.com Entry to this open mi...
24th February 2013
Poetry profile heist – case solved?
In what appeared to some to be a daring raid on our website, finely polished verses and whole poetry profiles were apparently spirited away under the noses of our security staff.
Unlike its Belgi...
20th February 2013
Deadline nears for York literature festival contest
The February 28 deadline is approaching for York literature festival's first poetry competition, to be judged by York’s poet in residence Carole Bromley. More details. There are York literature f...
20th February 2013
Colin Watts to judge Wirral Festival of Firsts competition
The closing date is 1 June for Wirral Festival of Firsts poetry competition, with a first prize of £200. The judge will be Colin Watts, chair of Liverpool’s Dead Good Poets Society. More details
20th February 2013
£1,000 first collection prize for poets aged 35 and under
Poets aged 35 and under are invited to enter for the £1,000 Meilita Hume poetry prize and win a publishing deal with Eyewear Publishing for the best first full collection. The submission must be at...
20th February 2013
Write Out Loud at Marsden tonight
Write Out Loud Marsden meets again at Marsden library, Peel Street, on Wednesday. 20 February. Share your work, or just listen and enjoy poetry, short stories or original songs with this growing g...
20th February 2013
Sorrow and joy: a pilgrimage to the grave of Sylvia Plath
Arriving at Heptonstall is a reminder not to believe everything you read: in more than one Plath book Sylvia's grave is described as being located in a dark, damp valley, far from the sunshine she ...
20th February 2013
Tony Harrison’s 'torrent of filth' poem on Radio 4
The profanities and racial epithets in Tony Harrison’s poem, v., were described as a torrent of filth by tabloids when it was broadcast on Channel 4 in 1987. Now you can hear it again on Radio 4 in...
19th February 2013
Write Out Loud at Sale tonight
Steph Pike, Neil McCall, and Mark Rawlins are the guest poets at Write Out Loud Sale, at the Waterside arts centre, Sale, on Tuesday 19 February. The open mic event starts at 7.30pm. Entry is £3/£2...
19th February 2013
New Poems on the Underground to mark 150th anniversary
A new set of Poems on the Underground, reflecting London then and now, has been launched to mark the tube’s 150th anniversary. The poems include a description of London in 1805 by Wordsworth; Stati...
17th February 2013
Joy France at Write Out Loud Bolton on Sunday
Joy France is the guest poet at Write Out Loud Bolton on Sunday, 17 February, at the Brooklyn, Green Lane, Bolton. Contact: jeffinbolton@yahoo.com. Entry is £1 to this open mic event, starting at 7...
15th February 2013
What's the worst you can come up with? How to win the anti-slam
A slam with a difference is staging an Anti-Valentine’s Day Special tonight, Friday 15 February, where the poet with the lowest score wins. Judges Niall O’Sullivan, Kat Francois, and Adam Kammerlin...
15th February 2013
£1,000 first collection prize for poets aged 35 and under
Poets aged 35 and under are invited to enter for the £1,000 Meilita Hume poetry prize and win a publishing deal with Eyewear for the best first full collection. The submission must be at least 40 p...
15th February 2013
Front page news: a Valentine's Day poem from the poet laureate
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, has written a new poem which the Guardian featured very prominently, complete with artwork, on its front page today. Perhaps they l...
14th February 2013
Love in the air? Valentine's night at Write Out Loud Wigan
It’s Valentine’s night at Write Out Wigan tonight, 14 February. For those in the mood or who want to feel the love, the open mic starts at 8.30pm at the Tudor House hotel. Entry is free. More detai...
14th February 2013
Robin Robertson to judge £2,000 Wigtown poetry prize
Robin Robertson will be judging the £2,000 Wigtown poetry prize, Scotland’s international poetry prize, which is open to all. The deadline for the competition, run in association with the Scottish ...
13th February 2013
New Write Out Loud night at Saddleworth tonight
There’s a new Write Out Loud venue out there, folks. Come and share your creative work: poems, short prose, song, script, sketches, or even show off and talk about your art work, etc in this friend...
13th February 2013
Appearing on the shore: new anthology of Beatles poetry
The wave of Beatles tributes after last year’s 50th anniversary of Love Me Do is continuing into 2013 with the launch of an anthology including poems by Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Philip Lark...
12th February 2013
The Write Out Loud interview: Mark Niel
Mark Niel had a career in financial services – and then he threw it all up for the world of spoken word, to do something with his life “that fitted the real me”. The poet laureate of Milton Keynes ...
12th February 2013
Maurice Riordan to take over as new editor of Poetry Review
The new editor of Poetry Review has been named as award-winning Irish poet Maurice Riordan. He will take up the role later in the year, beginning with the autumn issue of the magazine, which will b...
12th February 2013
Remembering and assessing Sylvia Plath, 50 years on
A celebration of Sylvia Plath’s “outstanding contribution to literature” is being staged tonight in Belfast at the University of Ulster, to mark the 50th anniversary of her death. Plath killed hers...
12th February 2013
Write Out Loud at Stockport on Monday
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport meet on Monday 11 February to share and discuss their poems, and contribute towards a collage poem of the event. The open mic event starts at 7pm at Stockport ar...
9th February 2013
Unmasked, again: magazine reveals new case of plagiarism by Christian Ward
A leading poetry magazine has blown the whistle on yet another known example of plagiarism by Christian Ward. In March last year Magma published a poem submitted by Ward that was titled Newton’s Fi...
9th February 2013
Going underground: call for submissions to anniversary anthology
Small poetry press Fire Hazard is calling for submissions to a new anthology, Underground, to mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the world's first underground railway in London in 1863. T...
7th February 2013
The night Liverpool poets put on a show: see the video
Last week Liverpool poet Steve Regan reported for Write Out Loud on the night the Guardian came to an open mic evening in Liverpool. Now you can watch the Guardian video of that night, as presenter...
6th February 2013
Putting Hampshire on the map with more than 100 poems
Hampshire has put itself on the poetry map, with 125 poems about the county on a website – and plenty more to come, and welcomed. You don’t need to live in Hampshire to join in the project – just ...
6th February 2013
Four poets and a pasty at Chorlton Irish Club
Poet and BBC broadcaster Ian McMillan - recently seen introducing the TS Eliot prize poets at the Royal Festival Hall – will be hosting Four Poets and a Pasty at Chorlton Irish Club, Manchester on ...
3rd February 2013
Online project offers poets a new platform
Poets are being invited to submit their work to an online poetry project which is offering to publish poems and profiles, an interview, and possible inclusion in a printed anthology. Each month neo...
3rd February 2013
Sparking into life: ideas on igniting creativity
Yorkshire poet Gaia Holmes is launching a new series of weekly writing workshops at Dean Clough, Halifax, starting on Tuesday 12 February, from 5-30-7.30pm. Igniting the Spark covers other literary...
3rd February 2013
Poets urged to help bookshop after suspected arson attack
Poets are being urged to help raise funds after a leftwing London bookshop was damaged in a suspected firebomb attack. London’s oldest anarchist bookshop, Freedom Press, in Shoreditch, east London,...
3rd February 2013
Qatari poet jailed for life to hear appeal verdict this month
A Qatari poet jailed for life for an internet poem is likely to hear later this month whether his appeal against his sentence is successful, his lawyer has said. Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami had...
1st February 2013
Deadline nears for Wenlock poetry competition
Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion is to judge this year’s Wenlock poetry competition. First prize is £500, the deadline is 6 February, and winners will be invited to read at an awards ceremony...
1st February 2013
Step right up: chance to perform on poetry stage at Glastonbury
Want to perform on Glastonbury festival’s poetry stage? Poetry&Words are looking for applications from experienced writers and performers “who can leave the Glastonbury audience speechless (in a go...
1st February 2013
Festival will still go on despite theatre closure, says StAnza
Organisers of StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival at St Andrews, have been quick to reassure festivalgoers that the festival from 6-10 March will go ahead despite the closure of the By...
1st February 2013
Don't miss the bus: perform at Preston's threatened landmark
Three spoken word performers – two established and one newcomer – are being sought in Lancashire for a performance at Preston’s bus station, a 1960s building in the "Brutalist" style that is facing...
1st February 2013
We're sorry about the blog and link glitches
Apologies, folks! Write Out Loud was experiencing a technical glitch on Thursday which meant that when you clicked on a link you didn't get there straight away, but were prompted to log in instead....
1st February 2013
