What, no poetry? Prosaic reception for new book awards
It seemed like the best of news when it was announced that Caffè Nero was launching a new set of writing awards, a year after fellow coffee shop chain Costa scrapped its popular book awards.
Like the Costa prizes, the Nero book awards will choose winners in various categories. These categories are mostly the same as the Costas were: children’s books, debut fiction, fiction and non-fiction. Howe...
24th May 2023
'When it's done it's done. It's not yours any more': Kae Tempest on a new collection and the creative process
“Once the poem’s finished, the poem’s got nothing to do with me. You put everything into it and you work on it and you work with it, but when it’s done it’s done. It’s not yours any more. It was never yours in the first place.” The award-winning poet and performer Kae Tempest has spoken about the cr...
20th May 2023
Who follows Alice Oswald? Four candidates set out stalls to become Oxford Professor of Poetry
Four candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to succeed Alice Oswald, pictured left, as the next Oxford Professor of Poetry. They are Christian Bök, Mark Ford, Don Paterson and AE Stallings. Mem...
19th May 2023
Anthony Anaxagorou wins £10,000 Ondaatje prize
British-Cypriot poet Anthony Anaxagorou has won the £10,000 Ondaatje prize for his collection titled Heritage Aesthetics. The award, run annually by the Royal Society of Literature, recognises an outs...
11th May 2023
'It's more of a puzzle than a poem': ovation for opening words at Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool
Actor Ricky Tomlinson helped get the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool off to an emotional start with his rendition of a poem by Frank Cottrell-Boyce packed with Liverpool and Beatle reference...
9th May 2023
'An Unexpected Guest': Simon Armitage's poem to mark coronation of King Charles III
The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has published his poem to mark the coronation of King Charles III. Titled ‘An Unexpected Guest’, it views Saturday’s coronation through the eyes of an ‘ordinary’ inv...
8th May 2023
Poem by Daljit Nagra lights up the Coronation Concert
A poem performed by actor James Nesbitt and written by the chair of the Royal Society of Literature, Daljit Nagra, pictured, illuminated the Coronation Concert at Windsor on Sunday night.
The poem...
8th May 2023
Play up, Pompey! Richard and Chris issue writing call-out to Portsmouth football fans
Two Portsmouth football fans are celebrating their club’s 125th anniversary by becoming the club’s creative writers in residence for next season. Long-standing supporters Richard Williams, pictured ri...
7th May 2023
Poet provides poem at first 'Lonely Funeral' in Scotland
A poet who last year launched a project to provide eulogy poems for people who have no one present at their funeral has attended and provided a poem at the first such service in Scotland.
Andy Jack...
3rd May 2023
