Poetry Society Member Vanessa Lampert has won the 2019 Cafe Writers Open Poetry Competition, judged by Zaffar Kunial, for her poem ‘Canada’. Vanessa wins £1000. She was previously Highly Commended in the Bridport and Troubadour prizes and came second in the Yeovil prize. She works as an acupuncturist in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Her poem opens… Nights […]
Congratulations to Jane Burn, winner of the Wolverhampton literature festival poetry competition. The competition was run in conjunction with Write Out Loud and judged by Roz Goddard. Jane’s poem ‘Cantabank’ won £400 first prize with R M Francis as runner-up. Joint third place went to Jacqueline D’Auban, Colin Little, and Catherine Edmunds. There were plenty […]
We were very sad to hear of the death of Hylda Sims, a stalwart of Poetry Café programming for 15 years and of the wider poetry scene for decades more. As the founder and indefatigable host of Fourth Friday, she connected up the creative energies of poets and musicians; she was also a brilliant performer […]
Congratulations to Roger Robinson, who has won the 2019 T.S. Eliot Prize with A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press)! Chair John Burnside said “Roger Robinson’s characters bear witness to a country where ‘every second street name is a shout out to my captors’. Yet though Robinson is unstinting in his irony, he also gives us […]
Warm tributes have been paid to Roddy Lumsden, lauded poet, critic, editor, mentor and tireless reader, promoter and advocate for poetry, who died on 10 January 2020, aged just 53. Countless writers have taken to social media to express their shock and sorrow at this death, but also to express their profound gratitude to him […]
Artlyst, in association with The Poetry Society, is launching a new international award for poetry based on works of art, the Artlyst Art to Poetry Award. From ancient times poets have been inspired by art. Ekphrastic poetry has given us some of the most celebrated poems in the English language from Keats’ ‘Ode on a […]
Poetry Archive has launched a very special collection of poems from winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. Run by The Poetry Society and generously supported by The Foyle Foundation, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award has been discovering, celebrating and supporting the very best young poets from around the […]
Ahead of Christmas, The Poetry Society has released a festive new podcast featuring Sophya, Stella and Poshya from St Peter’s Church of England Primary School performing Clare Pollard’s new Christmas tree poem, ‘The Gift’. Listen here. This poem was written as part of The Poetry Society’s annual project Look North More Often, commissioning a new […]
In partnership with Newcastle University, The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network has launched the first two of four writing challenges for young poets aged up to 25 from across the world. This series of challenges uses the digital Bloodaxe Archive as a springboard for young people to write their own poems. These in-depth prompts will […]
Jamaica’s Poet Laureate Lorna Goodison has been announced as the recipient of Her Majesty’s 2019 Gold Medal for Poetry, on the basis of the body of her work, which includes thirteen collections of poetry, as well as a selection of short stories. The Gold Medal for Poetry was established by King George V in 1933 […]
Clive James, who was probably best known for the stringency and unrivalled wit of his television criticism, was also a poet, novelist, translator, reviewer, memoirist and musician. Born in Kogorah, Australia, in 1939, James was first part of Sydney’s intellectual set; having swapped hemispheres, he soon found his place in literary London, after a stint […]
I need you to believe, Hope says. It’s you makes me exist. I feel bright feathers lifting. I hear a tiger’s roar. I’ve taken many forms, Hope says – changing is what I’m for. Since 2009, The Poetry Society has run a poetry project called Look North More Often, commissioning a new poem every year […]
Two successes for Poetry Society Member Audrey Molloy! Audrey’s poem ‘Salt Rain’ was awarded the Listowel Writers’ Week Poem of the Year 2019. Fellow Member Paul McMahon was Commended. Audrey also won second prize in the Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition for for her manuscript Satyress. Audrey’s chapbook will be will be published by […]
The Poem for Europe competition is a national competition to find the most thoughtful and inspiring poem about Europe. It has two age groups, Young Person’s category: 16-25 years old (judged by Vanessa Kisuule), and Open Category: 26+ years old (judged by Gillian Clarke). There are two 1st prizes of £500 in both the Young […]
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Sarah Hemings, winner of Gloucestershire Writers’ Network poetry competition for ‘Vestry’, as chosen by judges Amanda Reynolds and Stephen Daniels. The theme for 2019 was ‘Numbers’ to chime with The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival’s theme of ‘7 at 70’. The judges had a hard time selecting […]
Poetry Society Member Rosie Jackson has won Hedgehog Poetry Press’s ‘Conversationally Speaking’ prize in a joint venture with Dawn Gorman. The idea of the prize was to look for a conversation in verse where two poets choose a topic and collaborate to produce a body of work where each poem is a response to the […]
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Rosie Jackson, winner of the Poetry Space Competition 2019 for her poem ‘Where bluebells are thickest’, as chosen by Caroline Price – violinist, teacher and prize-winning poet. Rosie wins £500. In second place, for ‘Keeping Busy’ is Poetry Society Member Jenna Plewes, with fellow member Lizzie Ballagher Highly Commended. Among […]
CONGRATULATIONS to Poetry Society Member Peter Iveson, winner of Winchester Poetry Prize 2019 for his poem ‘Mother’s Milk’, judged by Helen Mort. Second prize and Third prizes went to fellow Member Maria Isakova-Bennett for ‘Subcutaneous’ and Lewis Buxton for ‘Boy Sees A Ghost’. Among the Highly Commended poets were Society Members Penny Boxall, Simon French, […]
Congratulations to Poetry Society Members Emma Must, winner of the Environmental Defenders Prize, and Joanna Guthrie, one of the runners-up. Among the Highly Commended were fellow Members Tim Kiely, Joanna Guthrie (for a second poem), and Hannah Lowe. The Ginkgo Prize is a major international award for ecopoetry, funded by the Edward Goldsmith Foundation and […]
Here’s some recent competition successes for Poetry Society Members! Fathima Zahra won the Bridport Poetry Prize; Mark Fiddes, Sharon Phillips, Penny Boxall, and Alison Binney were Highly Commended. Read more N J Hynes won the Battered Moons Poetry Competition, judged by Zoë Brigley Thompson. Sue Spiers was third. Former Foyle Young Poet Laura Potts was […]
The Oxford Brookes University Poetry Competition was judged this year by the internationally-acclaimed and award-winning author Jackie Kay. Two top prizes of £1,000 were on offer in a competition that seeks to celebrate the great diversity of poetry being written in English all over the world. Poems were submitted in two categories: EAL category (open […]
The Waltham Forest Poetry Competition, in its second year, received 600 poems from 300 poets (or thereabouts) on the theme of ‘Where I’m From’ and judge Graham Clifford read every single one. Poetry Society Member Radka Thea Otípková (Czech Republic) has won with her poem ‘Bats’. Graham Clifford: “As I suspect is often the way, […]
Since 2009, The Poetry Society has run a poetry project called Look North More Often, commissioning a new poem every year to celebrate the friendship between Oslo and London, symbolised by the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. This year Clare Pollard has written a poem called ‘The Gift’ inspired by the theme of hope which will […]
At a conference today, Pearson Edexcel launched their updated GCSE (9-1) English Literature syllabus, which now includes a greater diversity of contemporary writers. Two new novels, two new plays and a new poetry collection, all by BAME writers, have been added to the GCSE (9-1) text list. In addition, Edexcel has released a new poetry […]
Each year, The Poetry Society commissions new artwork for the National Poetry Competition, which features on our entry forms and posters, before finally becoming the cover of our annual National Poetry Competition Winners’ Anthology. Recent artists to take up the challenge of translating poetry into picture include Isabel Rock, Jonathan Edwards and Eugenia Loli. For […]
Ciaran Carson, who sadly died on 6 October 2019, had a long association with The Poetry Society, as a contributor to The Poetry Review, as a National Poetry Competition judge, and as a noted translator shortlisted for the Society’s Popescu Translation Prize. Born in Belfast on 9 October 1948, Carson studied English at Queen’s University. […]
Angela Chadwick and Poetry Society Member Andrew McMillan have been announced as the winners of the 2019 Polari Prizes, celebrating work that explores the LGBT experience. Chadwick’s highly acclaimed, dystopian thriller XX picked up the Polari First Book Prize for best debut whilst McMillan’s intimate poetry collection, Playtime, scooped the inaugural Polari Prize, beating other […]
The dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, silhouetted against Blitz fire and smoke. Coventry Cathedral, bombed and in flames. These iconic images from the Second World War – and the histories behind them – are the inspiration for two new poetry commissions encouraged into the world through Historic England’s project Where Light Falls. From 24th – […]
Congratulations to Fiona Benson, winner of the £10,000 Forward Prize for Best Collection for her collection Vertigo & Ghost (Cape), described as a retelling of Greek mythology for the #MeToo era. Several of the poems from the collection were first published in The Poetry Review and two, ‘[Zeus] Anatomical Dolls’ and ‘Haruspex’, can be read […]
Simon Armitage signing his Butt of Sherry in the headquarters of the CRDO in Jerez. To celebrate Simon Armitage’s appointment as the 21st Poet Laureate, he was invited by the Sherry producers of Jerez to receive the gift of a butt of Sherry. He has today visited the the area to choose his Sherry and […]
Elaine Feinstein, who died on 23 September 2019, was an award-winning poet, novelist, biographer, a witty conversationalist and a spellbinding performer. Born Elaine Cooklin in Liverpool on 24 October 1930, she grew up in Leicester and read English at Newnham College, Cambridge. She subsequently read for the bar in London, but subsequently returned to Cambridge […]
We are pleased to announce the winners of the Timothy Corsellis Prize 2019, marking the anniversary of Timothy Corsellis’s death. The Timothy Corsellis Prize was set up in memory of the young poet Timothy Corsellis, both as a memorial and an encouragement to others to explore the often overlooked field of Second World War poetry. […]
The winner of the 2019 Stanza Poetry Competition on the theme of ‘Lies’, judged by Geraldine Clarkson, is Penny Boxall (York Stanza) for her poem ‘The Dub Artist’. As part of Penny’s prize, she will be one of our guest readers at The Poetry Society’s AGM on 27 November at the Poetry Cafe, London, and […]
Happy National Poetry Day 2019! National Poetry Day is a big annual celebration of poetry across the UK, this year on the theme of ‘Truth’. To mark the occasion, The Poetry Society is today delivering a swathe of activities including: poems being broadcast at selected stations on the London Underground (including Covent Garden, Moorgate and […]
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the top 15 poets and 85 commended poets who are winners in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2019. The winning entries were selected from over 6,000 poets and over 11,000 poems by this year’s poet judges Raymond Antrobus and Jackie Kay. Writers aged 11-17 entered […]
Helen Mort Judge Helen Mort has picked her longlist for the 2019 Winchester Poetry Competition, including Poetry Society Members: Ama Bolton, Penny Boxall, Lewis Buxton, Martin Figura, Simon French, Rae Howells, Maria Isakova, Peter Iveson (for TWO poems), Stephen Keeler, Fiona Larkin, Robert Powell, Robert Stein, Ellora Sutton, Karen Tobias-Green, Mark Totterdell, Pat Winslow… as […]
The winners of the BBC Proms Poetry Competition 2019, for poems written in response to a piece of music in the 2019 Proms season, have been announced. This year’s competition was judged by poet and presenter of The Verb on BBC Radio 3 Ian McMillan, acclaimed poet Malika Booker and the Director of The Poetry […]
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce new guest editorships for the Winter 2019 and Spring 2020 issues of The Poetry Review as regular Editor Emily Berry is taking a short writing sabbatical until Summer 2020. The Poetry Society welcomes Colette Bryce as Editor of the Winter 2019 issue, which is published in December. Colette […]
This summer, The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network teamed up with Modern Poetry in Translation, challenging young poets worldwide to co-translate ‘Today’ by Western Armenian poet Lola Koundakjian. We provided a bridge translation and translator’s notes from Adham Smart, and an introduction to translating poetry by MPT editor Clare Pollard. Equipped with these translating tools, […]
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Yvonne Reddick, this year’s winner of the Ambit Poetry Competition on the theme of ‘Wild’ and judged by Liz Berry. Yvonne wins £500 for her poem ‘In the Burning Season’ which will be published in Ambit 238 with the rest of the top three poems. Yvonne was Joint runner-up […]
We're honoured to be joining Raficq Abdulla’s family and friends to host a memorial service on Thursday 19 March. englishpen.org/members/in-mem… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
#FreeVerse20 @GuillemotPress is named for a sea bird, but we're very glad they've flocked landward with their beautifully illustrated books for this year's Poetry Book Fair poetrybookfair.com
#FreeVerse20 @greenbottlepress believe poetry books "should not only engage the reader with fresh language, form and subject matter, but also be objects of beauty." We think so to! Visit their objects of beauty for yourself at this year's Poetry Book Fair: poetrybookfair.com
Our next #FreeVerse20 publisher is @gatehousepress - an East Anglian publishing house dedicated to supporting new writers. Pay them a visit at this year's Poetry Book Fair, 22 February, London: poetrybookfair.com/p/welcome.html
#FreeVerse20 publishers include Francesca Kay, poet and letterpress printer: we love the look of her poems in seed packets! poetrybookfair.com/p/welcome.html
@PoetrySociety @nessalampert @CafeWriters @Tide_Inspector @KarenHodgsonP @jenny_danes @wordcurlz @GregMLeadbetter @PoetSarahDoyle @BarMarsh @LizSennitt Big thanks @CafeWriters! It has given me the confidence to make a book for my poem – here's the cover! Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Costa Poetry Award goes to @maryjean_chan for Flèche @FaberBooks Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Details of Roddy's funeral are here cpjfield.co.uk/services/41909… where you can also leave a message of condolence for his family & make a donation to The Royal Literary Fund in his memory Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Come and see us at #freeverse20 on 22nd Feb! twitter.com/PoetrySociety/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Poetry people at @CostaBookAwards @KateClanchy1 @JohnMcCullough_ @karenpoetKL
Guess who the Poetry silhouettes are at @CostaBookAwards
🎈🍾🍾 CONGRATULATIONS @PoetrySociety Members @nessalampert winner of @CafeWriters Open Poetry Competition! @Tide_Inspector (2nd) @KarenHodgsonP (3rd) PLUS @jenny_danes @HazardPressUK @wordcurlz @GregMLeadbetter @PoetSarahDoyle @BarMarsh @LizSennitt & MORE poetrysociety.org.uk/news/cafewrite…
Poets @JennyMitchellGo @0CarlGriffin0 @NicolaMJackson @paulmcgranepoet @mabjones @BenRayThePoet &more won indigodreams.co.uk/geoff-stevens/… comp & pub'd by us. Click link to enter! Closes Feb 29 @PoetrySociety @Cheltpoetfest @LitWorks @thepoetrykit #indigopoets @PoetryBookSoc @poetryschool Retweeted by The Poetry Society
John Cooper Clarke on keeping his clothes simple, stapling them back together, and being fashionable once every 15 years for about three months @official_jcc theguardian.com/fashion/2020/j…
Hello. I’m offering three @PoetrySociety surgeries on Saturday, March 14 at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. I’d love to read and discuss your poems in this gorgeous venue. poetrysociety.org.uk/event/rozbrumm… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Midlands & Birmingham poets! Grab this chance for feedback on your poems with @rozgoddard at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, a world class museum in the heart of Birmingham. BOOKING NOW for Saturday 14 March 2020 @BM_AG poetrysociety.org.uk/event/rozbrumm…
#freeverse20 publishers @DandWpublishing host regular lively readings at the Poetry Café. Their backlist is just as lively – have a look at dempseyandwindle.com
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