Anthology of the sea, ed. Eve Lacey, Emma Press
I landed belatedly on this collection and I’m kicking myself for not exploring it earlier. As a non-swimmer with a sensible wariness of water, I do enjoy the sea – from a distance. Some of these well-chosen poems plunge you right in and under the water and are gripping but somewhat scary. Others skirt the edges of the sea or bob about on its surface, leaving me feeling slightly safer if a bit quea...
28th February 2017
'The broken pieces, made whole again, merged into two reconstructed hearts'
There are those like me who can't even tell when an avocado is ripe, and those who know exactly how to perfectly prepare a ripe one. Here's a poem of avocado expertise by Diane Lockward from The Uneaten Carrots of Atonement, published by Wind Publications. The poet lives in New Jersey.
FOR...
27th February 2017
Publishers launch poetry pamphlet competition
Dempsey & Windle Publishing have launched their poetry pamphlet competition, with first prize £50 and a 30-page chapbook of the winner’s poems. All poems submitted also have the chance to be included ...
27th February 2017
'Echo and Narcissus' by Karen Izod is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Echo and Narcissus’ by Karen Izod. The poem is inspired by a bronze by Glyn Philpot, and is also touched by contemporary events. Her regular open-mic haunts...
26th February 2017
Deadline nears for £500 York literature festival poetry competition
Antony Dunn will be judging York literature festival’s 2017 poetry competition. The first prize is £500, and the deadline is 28 February. More details
24th February 2017
Celebrating the curlew: poetry and prose wanted for anthology
The closing date is 7 April for submitting up to three poems or non-fiction of up to 1,000 words for an anthology in celebration of curlew and the landscapes they inhabit. Poems will also be considere...
23rd February 2017
Deadline nears for Poetry Business competition
Ian Duhig and Mimi Khalvati will be judging the Poetry Business book and pamphlet competition, and shortlisting the inaugural £1,000 Wordsworth Trust single poem prize. Poetry Business competition ent...
23rd February 2017
'How to be private and patient, how to be unbuttoned'
The next time you open your closet, this poem will give you reason to pay a little more attention to what's hanging inside. Gary Whited is from Massachusetts and his most recent book is Having Listene...
23rd February 2017
Hacienda poet recalls 'fantastic' tour as he looks forward to London screening of documentary
Performance poet Trev Meaney will be delivering his commissioned poem about Manchester’s fabled Hacienda night club before a screening of a documentary about the club in London on Thursday 23 February...
22nd February 2017
Tom Raworth, innovative poet who helped to shake up the 60s, dies aged 78
Tom Raworth, a poet highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic, and who was seen as a key figure in the modernist-inspired movement known as the British Poetry Revival of the 1960s and 70s, has die...
22nd February 2017
Playwright and poet Bernard Kops, and a library that changed his life
The veteran writer Bernard Kops is perhaps better known as a playwright, from the school of kitchen-sink realism – but his poetry credentials are not in doubt. He went on the first Aldermaston Ban the...
22nd February 2017
Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside tonight
Ella Otomeyo and Cathy Bryant are the guest poets at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre, Sale on Tuesday 21 February. Entry is £3/£2 to this open-mic poetry night. It starts at 7.30pm, b...
21st February 2017
Wendy Cope, Luke Wright, Zena Edwards and Francesca Beard at arts centre festival in former church
Wendy Cope, Luke Wright, Zena Edwards and Francesca Beard are among the poets lined up for a four-day festival of poetry, comedy and storytelling at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington, south-west ...
21st February 2017
Performance poetry publisher wants collection submissions
Performance poetry publisher Burning Eye Books is looking for submissions for poetry collections from people “active on the UK performance / spoken word poetry scene for publication between January an...
21st February 2017
Write Out Loud Woking at the New Inn tonight
Write Out Loud Woking will be meeting again on Monday 20 February at the New Inn at Send, near Woking, for another night of free, open-mic poetry. It’s hosted by Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood. Sign fro...
20th February 2017
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
Write Out Loud Bolton returns to its old slot – the third Sunday of each month – at Bolton Socialist Club on Sunday 19 February. Entry is £1 plus raffle at this open-mic poetry event compered by Jeffa...
19th February 2017
'Lost' by Chris Hubbard is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week
‘Lost’ by Chris Hubbard is the new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week. Chris, a retired academic originally from Lincolnshire and now based in Australia, took a creative writing course during his degree ...
19th February 2017
Jackie Wills to judge £400 South Downs poetry festival competition
Jackie Wills will be judging the £400 South Downs poetry festival competition. The deadline is 19 May. More details
17th February 2017
John Hegley, Kate Fox and Ian McMillan lined up for writing retreat in Dales
A new writing retreat in the Yorkshire Dales is offering courses by John Hegley, Kate Fox, Ian McMillan, Fleur Adcock, Jane Draycott, Kim Moore, and a number of other poets and writers. From Easter Ga...
16th February 2017
The three Dooleys: poetry siblings Tim, Maura and Terence read together in public for the first time
The Troubadour in west London has seen a number of historic poetry and music nights in its time – but this was a new first. Three poetry siblings - Terence, Tim, and Maura Dooley – reading together in...
14th February 2017
To Have to Follow: Julie Maclean & Terry Quinn, Indigo Dreams
Collaborations between poets are interesting and, in the age of the internet, becoming more popular between poets from different countries. In this case, the collaboration comes from two writers who h...
14th February 2017
'With only a smear of water to keep them singing'
All too often poets shun simple, direct, and earthy words like "tea" in favor of others that sound more sophisticated, like Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong. But fancy words put experience at a greater d...
13th February 2017
'Commuter' by Alexandra Rockwell Lorenz is Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Commuter’ by Alexandra Rockwell Lorenz. In a poem that is rich in images, including "forgotten train tracks" and a "slinking cat", these lines also stand ou...
13th February 2017
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting at Stockport art gallery on Monday 13 February at 7pm to share poems. Entry is a £1 donation. Each month a collage poem is produced from members’ contributions...
13th February 2017
US poet and 'inspirational teacher' Thomas Lux dies at 70
The American poet and university teacher Thomas Lux, who has died at the age of 70, has been described as “an inspirational teacher” by one of his former students.
Lux’s poetry has appeared in the ...
10th February 2017
Jane Commane to judge £450 Manchester Cathedral poetry competition
Publisher, editor and poet Jane Commane will be judging the £450 Manchester Cathedral poetry competition. The deadline is 30 June. More details
10th February 2017
Deadline nears for Poets & Players competition
Michael Symmons Roberts will be judging the Poets & Players £500 poetry competition. The deadline is 27 February. More details
PHOTOGRAPH: GREG FREEMAN / WRITE OUT LOUD
10th February 2017
Love, poetry and the whole damn thing: Write Out Loud at Wigan tonight
Bring your words of love, stanzas on sex and rhymes of romance to Write Out Loud Wigan’s Valentine’s Special at the Old Courts on Thursday 9 February. There will be prizes for the soppiest poem - and ...
9th February 2017
'Help each other, and we all get up the ladder': Jo Bell goes Nationwide in latest poetic TV ad
The former canal laureate Jo Bell has joined the growing corps of poets recruited for TV adverts by Nationwide building society. Jo’s poem about how the Nationwide building society began, and why, was...
9th February 2017
Dudley's Grande Slam gets off to a flying start
It’s always a joy to visit poetry nights who’ve got it right, and – judging by their opening night – Dudley’s ‘Grande Slam’, in the Cafe Grande in the heart of the town, has done exactly that. Hosted ...
7th February 2017
Never mind the football as Wolverhampton also notches up wonderful weekend of words
The new year starts with a new literature festival, in Wolverhampton. Seventy events throughout the city centre over a weekend, with talks from authors, activities for kids, workshops, and plenty of p...
7th February 2017
'Only she can see where she goes and track where she's been'
Fog carries mystery within it, and here's a fine poem about a day in which a memory approaches through fog and makes itself real. Michael Lauchlan lives in Michigan and his most recent book is Trumbul...
6th February 2017
'The Hollow' by Rhiannon is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week
The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘The Hollow’ by Rhiannon. In her Q&A interview she says that she grew up in a family where writing poetry was considered "something of a tradition", won a po...
5th February 2017
Poets from 'city of sanctuary' launch timely anthology
A poetry group launched an anthology of its work on Saturday night – and one of the overriding themes of the book was the plight of refugees. It was the day after Holocaust Memorial Day, and also the ...
4th February 2017
Occupied City: Paul van Ostaijen, Smokestack
Reading this book, I feel like I’m transported to another world. Not just the world of occupied Antwerp during the first world war; but also the world of Berlin Dada, a heady mixture of political caba...
3rd February 2017
Knowing My Place: Bob Horne, Caterpillar Poetry
Bob Horne has been a schoolteacher, milkman and stonedresser. He is also the founder of small press Calder Valley Poetry, and an organiser of an open mic night. The title of his debut collection, Know...
1st February 2017
'Amazed, and humbled': Steve Pottinger on Write Out Loud nearing its cash appeal target
Write Out Loud’s chief executive Steve Pottinger launched an appeal before Christmas for £1,000 to help with our running costs and to enable us to develop some new ideas. We’re close to hitting our ta...
1st February 2017
