John Cooper Clarke marks showbiz milestone and new collection with 2024 tour
Veteran punk poet John Cooper Clarke is celebrating “50 years in showbiz” and his latest collection What with a 2024 tour. Venues include Edinburgh Queens Hall, a reunion show with very special guest Linton Kwesi Johnson at the London Palladium and three nights at Salford’s Lowry Theatre. His poem ‘I Wanna Be Yours’' recently celebrated over a billion streams in its incarnation as a hit record by ...
29th February 2024
Sharron Green is guest poet at Write Out Loud Woking tonight
Compere Sharron Green is also guest poet at Write Out Loud Woking at the Fiery Bird on Thursday 29 February. Sharron will be reading from her new collection Willing Words. Entry is £5, and doors open at 6.45pm. More details
29th February 2024
How to succeed as a poetry compere: Born Lippy’s Donald Jenkins delivers a masterclass
There are poetry night comperes that embrace the limelight, and there are other comperes who can’t help being the centre of attention, even if they’re not trying to be. Donald Jenkins, MC of the eclec...
22nd February 2024
Adele Ward to judge Green Fuses anthology competition
Adel Ward is the judge for VOLE books Winter/Spring competition. An anthology of the winning and short-listed poems titled Green Fuses will be published in April 2024 and all the poets included will r...
20th February 2024
Poetry programmes you may have missed: The Poetry Detective; Michael Longley
The Poetry Detective broadcast on BBC Radio 4 is about “the poems we carry with us. The poems that speak to us so strongly that we return to them in times of confusion, fear, loneliness or joy. Some o...
18th February 2024
Just what the doctor ordered: Portugal's poet-surgeon adds poetry to medics' training
A breast cancer specialist and prizewinning Portuguese poet is pioneering the teaching of poetry alongside medicine to help trainee doctors empathise with their patients.
18th February 2024
Elizabeth Gibson is guest at Write Out Loud Sale on Monday
Elizabeth Gibson is the guest perfomer at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre on Monday, 19 February. She is a queer, neurodivergent poet and performer who has been the recipient of a New...
14th February 2024
Arts Council England issues ‘clarification’ after freedom of expression fears
Arts Council England has been forced to issue a statement clarifying its earlier comments after fears were raised in an arts journal article that its guidance on “reputational risks” were an attack on...
14th February 2024
Write Out Loud Woking on Zoom tonight
The next Write Out Loud Woking on Zoom is on Valentine’s Day. Poems about hearts and flowers certainly allowed, but by no means essential. Email Greg Freeman on gregfreem@gmail.com if you’d like to re...
14th February 2024
Mimi Khalvati is awarded the King's Gold Medal for Poetry
Mimi Khalvati is to be awarded the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry, it has been announced. The Poetry Medal Committee, chaired by the poet laureate Simon Armitage, recommended Mimi Khalvati as the recipi...
10th February 2024
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Come and share your poems at this friendly open-floor poetry night set in the stimulating environment of Stockport Art Gallery. £1.50 donation is obligatory for all attendees. Entrance is round the ri...
8th February 2024
Write Out Loud Wigan at the Old Courts tonight
Write Out Loud Wigan is back at the Bailiff Bar at the Old Courts, Wigan on Thursday 8 February. Compered by Ian Whiteley, sign up from 7.30pm for an 8pm start. More details
8th February 2024
Life's Wonders: collated by Rhianna Levi, Black Pear Press
Rhianna Levi began her Worcestershire Poet Laureate tenure in June 2022. During this time she has worked closely with the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity team to promote wellbeing, joy and belo...
6th February 2024
The Process of Poetry, from first draft to final poem: ed. Rosanna McGlone, Fly on the Wall Press
Far too often you come across volumes of poets talking about their craft, and you are left none the wiser. Rather than dispelling the mystique, they merely add to it. Now here comes a book that miracu...
5th February 2024
Zaffar Kunial to judge Rialto nature and place competition
Zaffar Kunial will be judging The Rialto’s £1,000 Nature and Place poetry competition. The Rialto magazine is working in association with the RSPB, BirdLife International, Cambridge Conservation Initi...
4th February 2024
Linda Downs is guest at Write Out Loud Bolton tonight
Poet and playwright LInda Downs is the guest performer at Write Out Loud Bolton on Sunday 4 February at Bolton Socialist Club at 7.30pm. Fifteen five-minute open-mic slots available. Sign up at the do...
4th February 2024
Caribbean influencer: meet Shaniqua Benjamin, Croydon's poet laureate
In April last year Croydon became the latest London Borough of Culture, a title it will hold for a year, and which was secured with the help of Shaniqua Benjamin, the south London borough’s first poet...
1st February 2024