A poetry group that was established in 1968 has just published its 40th annual anthology of poetry by members of the group. Long-standing member Adrian Green said Southend Poetry group first met at a room in Southend’s civic centre. “It has always worked on the principle that anyone aspiring to write poetry would also be a reader of poetry. Meetings therefore have included presentations of poets and poetry from throughout the canon of English and contemporary writing.” 

In the mid-1970s, about 8-10 members would meet each month in a member’s house. The format was that someone would lead a discussion on either a poet, or a topic in poetry, and towards the end of the evening members would have a chance to share pieces they had written recently. 

After the group became too large to meet comfortably in a private home, it swtiched to a room in the local library, and eventually in the early 1980s to a room above a pub, the Railway Hotel in the town centre. Those meetings at the Railway continued for more than 25 years until 2009 when a change in management and music policy “made it difficult to concentrate on the poetry” and the group moved to its current base at the Naval and Military Club. 

In 1985, under the chairmanship of Peter Marks, the group published a pamphlet collection of members’ poetry. Adrian Green said: “We borrowed the money from the borough’s arts council. They wouldn’t give it as a grant but could lend it to us and underwrite the loss they were sure we would make, but we were able to pay it back within a month of Southend Poetry ’85 being printed. Heartened by this, each year we have been able to fund the subsequent year’s printing. After 40 years, we have published 1,740 poems by 140 different poets.

“The early editions were reviewed favourably by the local press, especially the poetry columnist of Essex Countryside magazine, Frederic Vanson, who greeted the first issue with the headline ‘Southend’s Bright Spirits.’ “ 

In 2014, thirty years of publishing members’ work was celebrated by the publication of Gold – 30 years of Southend Poetry (ISBN 978-0-9565565-5-4), an anthology of poems selected by award-winning poet Pascale Petit.

Adrian added: “The meeting format is now similar to those of the early days of the group, with someone presenting the work of a particular poet or topic in poetry, though it is not always possible for everyone to read their own work each time. We do, however, designate regular evenings as a workshop or read-around evenings for this purpose and a number of group members have achieved some recognition and publication outside the group.”

We at Write Out Loud say: “We know that poetry groups come and go - but many congratulations to the poets of Southend and thereabouts who have stayed the course for so long!” 

Anyone in the UK can buy Southend Poetry 40 from Essex Hundred Publications 

You can find more more information about Southend Poetry Group on Facebook, or contact current chair dorothy@southendpoetry.co.uk