How to get your poetry published - or not, as the case may be
Want to get your poetry published? Confused about which route to take? One publisher is offering a pathway through this potential maze. Helena Nelson, of Happenstance Press, has published How (Not) to Get Your Poetry Published, a revised and updated version of a pamphlet that quickly sold out when issued in 2009.
In her foreword to the new book she warns that “poetry publishing has grown even...
30th April 2016
New spoken word night in Wigan with Louise Fazackerley
Performance poet Louise Fazackerley is co-hosting a new spoken word night in Wigan on Saturday 30 April. The Papercut at the Old Courts in Wigan will have one guest spoken word artist, one guest comedian and a mini-slam.
Louise said: “The idea is to have a high quality, entertaining spoken word n...
29th April 2016
Bang Said The Gun back in Manchester
Ian McMillan and Luke Wright are the guest poets as renowned spoken word night Bang Said The Gun makes its reappearance in Manchester on 28 April at the Dancehouse theatre.
Dan Cockrill and Martin ...
28th April 2016
Elvis McGonagall and Steve Pottinger in Huddersfield tonight
There’s a performance poetry extravaganza in the offing when Elvis McGonagall, stand-up poet and star of the Edinburgh Fringe, emerges from his godforsaken rural idyll at the Graceland Caravan Park to...
27th April 2016
MPs to watch Luke Wright's show about the Blair years at special Commons performance
Luke Wright will be performing his award-winning solo show, What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, about the hopes and broken dreams of the New Labour years, at the houses of parliament next week. The invi...
26th April 2016
Sonnet marathons and poetry posties mark big Shakespeare anniversary
Saturday 23 April marked the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death – and the poetry world put on events across the country to celebrate the bard’s words.
Poet in the City staged a contin...
24th April 2016
Deadline nears for Saboteur award nominations
A set of awards that recognises the huge amount of activity that operates below the radar of the big poetry prizes has opened for nominations. The Saboteur awards, organised by Sabotage Reviews, has 1...
23rd April 2016
Owen Lewis and Denise Bundred win £5,000 Hippocrates poetry prizes
Owen Lewis and Denise Bundred have won the £5,000 Hippocrates prizes for poetry and medicine. Lewis, a clinical psychiatry professor at Columbia University, New York City, won the open international ...
21st April 2016
Write Out Loud Bolton is back - at new venue tonight
Write Out Loud Bolton is back after its winter break – at a new venue. From now the open mic might hosted by Jeff Dawson (aka Jeffarama!) pictured, and Gordon Zola will be on the third Tuesday of each...
21st April 2016
Write Out Loud at Marsden library tonight
David Lindsay, Write Out Loud’s gig guide editor, and host of Cleckheaton’s Talking Zebras, is once more the guest host at Write Out Loud Marsden on Wednesday 20 April, with regular host Julian Jordon...
20th April 2016
Volunteers rally round to ensure there will still be poetry in Aldeburgh this year after festival crisis
Poetry is returning to Aldeburgh in November this year with a three-day festival organised by a group of volunteers, backed by a wave of goodwill and enthusiasm from the poetry world.
While uncert...
20th April 2016
Abigail Parry's 'Arterial' wins €10,000 Ballymaloe prize
Abigail Parry has won the €10,000 Ballymaloe international poetry prize with her poem ‘Arterial’. Parry, who was given the award at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin on Wednesday,is a former toymaker...
19th April 2016
Write Out Loud at the Old Courts in Wigan tonight
Louise Coulson is the guest compere at Write Out Loud Wigan at the Old Courts, Crawford Street, Wigan, on Thursday 14 April. Entry is free to this open mic night, which stars at 8.30pm. More details a...
14th April 2016
American poet Eric Berlin's 'Night Errand' wins National Poetry Competition
An American freelance editor living near Syracuse in New York has won the £5,000 National Poetry Competition. Eric Berlin’s poem ‘Night Errand’ was praised by judges Sarah Howe, Esther Morgan, and Dav...
13th April 2016
Char March at Write Out Sale at the Waterside tonight
The award-winning Char March is guest poet at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre, Sale, on Tuesday 12 March. The open mic event begins at 7pm, and entry is £3. More details
12th April 2016
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting on Monday to share their poems at Stockport art gallery. Each month members produce a collage poem. You can read the March poem here. It starts at 7...
11th April 2016
Linton Kwesi Johnson and Hollie McNish at Liverpool's WOW festival
Dub poetry legend Linton Kwesi Johnson will be performing at Liverpool’s month-long WOW (Writing on the Wall) festival next month. Johnson, the first black poet to have his work included in Penguin’s ...
10th April 2016
Put something in the bonnet? Steve Pottinger and other friendly faces in Chester
There’s a poetry night with a distinctly Write Out Loud flavour at Chester on Sunday 10 April. Even Bigger Bonnets features Steve Pottinger, Write Out Loud’s chief executive, plus Write Out Loud stalw...
10th April 2016
David Morley wins Ted Hughes award with 'box of fireworks' collection
David Morley has won the £5,000 Ted Hughes award for new work in poetry for his collection The Invisible Gift, described by the judges as “a box of fireworks”. He was presented with the award by the p...
8th April 2016
Jean 'Binta' Breeze and Tony Harrison at Teesside's T-junction festival
Tony Harrison and Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze will be appearing at the T-junction poetry festival in Middlesbrough, in a lineup that also includes poets from Finland, Pakistan, Latvia, and Bosnia. Those takin...
8th April 2016
'Step back onto the sidewalk, sir': searching for the poetic side of Donald Trump
Populist presidential candidate Donald Trump had a less-than-secret meeting with other Republicans on Monday 21 March to try to improve his relationship with fellow members of what is called here the ...
2nd April 2016
