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 […]
Laura Mucha has won the inaugural YorkMix Poems for Children Competition for her poem ‘Rapunzel’ [And sweet Rapunzel’s golden curls / would slowly tumble and unfurl / allowing Witch to clamber up / (occasionally getting stuck).] The judge was Carole Bromley: “a superb, funny, original retelling of the fairy-tale. I was delighted to find it […]
We are sorry to announce the death of Carole Satyamurti, poet, sociologist, teacher and former winner of the National Poetry Competition, who died on 13 August. Carole was the author of six collections of poetry – her first three with Oxford University Press and the three thereafter with Bloodaxe. Stitching the Dark: New & Selected […]
This summer, The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network teamed up with Modern Poetry in Translation to challenge young writers worldwide to try their hand at translating poetry. As part of this partnership YPN and MPT set up a free poetry translation workshop with MPT editor and poet Clare Pollard in The Poetry Café. On 14 […]
CONGRATULATIONS to Poetry Society Members Lizzie Holden (second for From the Bottom of the Wishing Well) and Pam Thompson (third for Hireling) in the Paper Swans Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize – won by Jared A Carnie for his pamphlet Lyme. Also Commended was Poetry Society Member Maria Isakova Bennett with fellow Members Lucy Maxwell Scott, […]
CONGRATULATIONS to Poetry Society Members Mary Gilonne, Sheila Aldous and Jenny Mitchell, top three in this year’s Segora Poetry Competition. First prize £300, second £50, Third £30, judged by Maggie Butt. Also on the shortlist was fellow Member Tim Waller. Maggie Butt: “Judging the Segora competition has been hard. Not just because of the number […]
CONGRATULATIONS to Poetry Society Members Robin Houghton, Miranda Peake, Tania Hershman and Katie Griffiths – winners of the Live Canon Pamphlet Competition. All four will have pamphlets published by Live Canon. The competition was for pamphlets of between 18 and 35 poems. The winning publications are Was it the Diet Coke, and other questions – […]
CONGRATULATIONS to Poetry Society Member Roger Bloor, winner of this year’s Poetry London Clore Competition, judged by Sasha Dugdale. Roger’s pamphlet A Less Clear Dream was shortlisted for the Arnold Bennett Book Prize in 2018, and Aldgedeslegh was shortlisted for the Arnold Bennett Book Prize 2019. He is also a Poetry Society Stanza rep in […]
The Poetry Society’s Timothy Corsellis Prize for poets aged 25 or younger is open for its sixth year. Timothy Corsellis was a young poet and pilot killed in 1941. The Prize was set up in his name, with the support of his family, to encourage more people to read the powerful but lesser-known poets of […]
To celebrate National Writing Day in June, Arvon ran a 5-day poetry challenge. Over the course of five days poets were asked to shape up a poem from first to final draft with guidance and exercises from Jen Hadfield. Each poet received an email daily containing a handy writing prompt, dutifully crafted for them by […]
Ledbury Poetry Festival is one of the highlights of the UK poetry calendar, and each year The Poetry Society heads to Ledbury to showcase recent winners of the National Poetry Competition. The most recent festival included readings from 2018 National Poetry Competition winners Ella Frears (commended), Katie Griffiths (2nd prize) and Wayne Holloway-Smith (1st prize), […]
It’s been a bumper year for Poetry Society Members in the 2019 Hippocrates Awards for Poetry and Medicine. Claudia Daventry has won the Open prize for her poem ‘for my Valentine in an fMRI scanner’. Claudia’s work has won several awards and commendations, including Arvon, Philip Larkin and McLellan prizes, and was placed first in […]
Congratulations to Dawn Gorman, the winner of the 2019 Brian Dempsey Pamphlet Prize, judged by Anna Saunders. Dawn will be offered publication of a 36-page pamphlet of her poems, including 20 copies, and £100 cash. Congratulations, too, to Poetry Society Member Derek Adams, one of three other poets on the shortlist. In the Individual Poem […]
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Helena Goddard who is the winner of this year’s Poetry on the Lake Silver Wyvern competition for her poem ‘Rower, Battersea Lake’, and to fellow Member Graham Burchell, who has won second prize for ‘Dead in the Water’. Graham is a former winner of The Poetry Society’s Stanza Competition, as […]
Ilkley Literature Festival (ILF) have appointed Poetry Society Member Geneviève Carver alongside Shash Trevett as their new Apprentice Poets in Residence for the year. The position is usually awarded to one poet each year but this year the calibre of applications was so exceptional that ILF took the unprecedented step of offering the Apprentice role […]
This summer, The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network teamed up with Moon Festival to challenge young poets to follow in the footsteps of Li Bai, Sappho, P.B. Shelley, Alice Oswald and more – and respond poetically to the moon. The response to the challenge was fantastic. It was one of our most popular Young Poets […]
This Saturday 29th June, find The Poetry Society stand on Earlham St, Covent Garden, London, among the Seven Dials Festival 30 celebrations. The Poetry Society is running a special poetry trail of poems that have featured in its journal The Poetry Review among a series of selected shops in the area. Following the trail could […]
This year’s erbacce-prize for poetry received just under eight thousand submissions and from every country in the world. The winner is Peter D Lyons from Ireland. Close on Peter’s heels were Poetry Society Members Angela Platt, Caroline Maldonado, Colin Dardis, Denni Turp, Karen Tobias-Green, Dino Mahoney, Laurence Bainbridge, Lisa Lopresti, Rodney Wood, and Sarah Steele […]
Tina Cole is the winner of this year’s Welshpool Poetry Competition as judged by Liz Berry. Poetry Society Members Helen Kay and Kathryn Bevis were second and third, with fellow Society Members Jane Burn, Estelle Price, Paul Waring and Kate Wise among the Commendations. This year’s winning poems are: ‘Makeover’ by Tina Cole ‘Hen Coop’ […]
Mary Jean Chan has won The Geoffrey Dearmer Prize for her poem ‘The Fencer’ (now titled ‘Flèche’) for the best poem published in The Poetry Review by a poet who doesn’t yet have a full collection, while Carole Bromley has won the Hamish Canham Prize for her poem ‘First Year’, judged to be the best […]
The winner of the Teignmouth Poetry Prize is ‘Outside Chance’ by Poetry Society Member Linda Saunders. Judge John Greening said: “This poet knows what E.M. Forster meant by ‘only connect’, juxtaposing different elements with immense care and clarity: the shoes, the shell, the glasses, the egg-cups, the elephants, they all process and are processed into […]
Congratulations to Hannah Walker and Emily Vanderploeg who shared the Cinnamon Pamphlet prize this year for their pamphlets Attention and Loose Jewels. The 2019 judge was Ian Gregson. In total, over 500 pamphlets were submitted. Poetry Society Members Maiya Dambawinna (one of the Foyle Young Poet of the Year 2018 winners) and Scott Elder were […]
Plenty of Poetry Society Members on this year’s Live Canon pamphlet competition longlist. The competition was for pamphlets of between 18 and 35 poems. Four pamphlets will be selected for publication by the Live Canon Poetry Press. Poetry Society Members on the longlist are Robin Houghton, Miranda Peake, Maeve Henry, Kathryn Southworth, Tania Hershman, Christopher […]
Candlestick Press have announced the winners of their ‘Snow Poem’ poetry competition, judged by Carole Bromley. In the end they chose three (rather than the planned two) winners and we’re delighted that Poetry Society Member Joanne Key was picked among the three for her poem ‘for the love of snow’. Carole also chose ‘Snow Day’ […]
Poetry Society Member Mary Wight, from Melrose, is the winner of the 2019 Federation of Writers (Scotland) Vernal Equinox poetry competition, judged by Stephen Watt, FWS Makar for 2019. Stephen said of Mary’s winning poem, ‘Fish’ “I found this vibrant, eavesdropping poem incredibly endearing as it rotated like a slideshow with images of friendship, romance, […]
Congratulations to Alice Oswald, who has been elected as the next Oxford Professor of Poetry. She will be the first female poet to take up the prestigious post. Alice Oswald was elected by members of Convocation, which is a group that includes graduates of Oxford as well as the University’s members of staff. Three candidates […]
Congratulations to Damen O’Brien, winner of the 2019 Welsh Poetry Competition for his poem ‘The Map-Maker’s Tale’. This year’s judge was Mike Jenkins, winner of Wales Book of the Year in 1998 and former editor of Poetry Wales. Mike said of Damon’s poem: “it creates in such a short space, a world you inhabit, albeit […]
Alhamdulillah. Super thrilled to officially announce my poems won The Bridport Prize & The Wells Festival of Literature Young Poets Prize this weekend. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Such a strong set of poems. And a great winner. Thank you Geraldine for commending Sp/lit. Very proud to be among them.😃 twitter.com/PoetrySociety/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Some feedback about Trowbridge Stanza #poetry josephinecorcoran.org/2019/10/23/som… via @And_OtherPoems Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Hurray! twitter.com/ValzhynaMort/s…
My first publication in The Poetry Review, please be the first of many: pic.twitter.com/J2zPXEWkRt
— Valzhyna Mort (@ValzhynaMort) October 23, 2019
"The sky was hard as enamel; there was a callus of frost on the face of the fields. Dust to dust; but this was no ordinary muck." From 'Farewell to Earth' by Christopher James, winner of the 2008 #NationalPoetryCompetition Enter by October 31 at poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/n…
Sunday @bbcpoetryplease @KathrynSimmonds joins Roger McGough. Her selection includes poetry by TS Eliot, Charles Causley and Alice Oswald. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
Congratulations 🍻 to @PoetrySociety member @AndrewPoetry Andrew McMillan, winner of @PolariPrize for 'Playtime' alongside Angela Chadwick poetrysociety.org.uk/news/polari-2/
Starting tomorrow eve until Sunday eve! Don't miss 'Where Light Falls' a free light show, @PoetrySociety partnering w/ @HistoricEngland projecting images and poetry (featuring @keithjlondon) onto @StPaulsLondon remembering World War II & heroes of Blitz bit.ly/wherelightfall…
Tracy K. Smith, the 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate, on why poetry is for everyone oprahmag.com/entertainment/…
Read a selection of poems by the award-winning Fiona Benson for a limited-time only, as featured in the Spring 2018 issue of @PoetrySociety's The Poetry Review. "Spring broke out but my soul did not." twitter.com/PoetrySociety/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
"Spring broke out but my soul did not" Read from Poetry Review Spring 2018 issue (until next Wed), featuring poems by Fiona Benson from her Forward Prize winning collection Vertigo & Ghost bit.ly/fionavertigore…
9 days to go to enter the 2019 National Poetry Competition! Listen to @ssexton02 & @KofTheTriffids - both prize winners in the competition - talk about poetry and video games: bit.ly/NPCsextonirvin… Enter the competition here: bit.ly/winthepoetryna…
poetrysociety.org.uk/poetry-cafe/ex… Great exhibition @PoetrySociety. Brief was: respond to the ‘queer poetry canon’ in bookmark format. A prize for the clever person who knows which poem my forks image is celebrating. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Eve Warden S3 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award Congratulations to Eve Warden whose poem was selected by judges Jackie Kay and Raymond Antrobus as as one of their 85 commended Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2019 for her poem Mrs Blossom. @PoetrySociety Retweeted by The Poetry Society
"everything big happens in parenthesis – marriage, birth, The War, poetry. Is it the full manuscript or just the bits in the middle" From 'To The Lighthouse' by Allison McVety, winner of the 2011 #NationalPoetryCompetition Enter by midnight 31 October at poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/n…
Read, quite slowly, by the poet herself towards the end of this terrific programme... twitter.com/PoetrySociety/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Winning and commended poems in the #NationalPoetryCompetition (enter by 31 October!) often go on to lead strange and surprising lives. Debbie Lim's poem 'Gift of the Sloth', commended in 2013, has just featured on BBC Radio 4's Natural Histories! Listen: https://t.co/WRAQAlkPGs
— The Poetry Society (@PoetrySociety) October 22, 2019
Winning and commended poems in the #NationalPoetryCompetition (enter by 31 October!) often go on to lead strange and surprising lives. Debbie Lim's poem 'Gift of the Sloth', commended in 2013, has just featured on BBC Radio 4's Natural Histories! Listen: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
Stuck for #NationalPoetryCompetition inspiration before the 31 October deadline for entries? Here are some fantastic writing resources based on past prize winning poems from Mary Jean Chan and Caleb Parkin bit.ly/npcwrite Retweeted by The Poetry Society
10 DAYS left to enter National Poetry Competition! See pic below for info🙌Among the judges is @arshi_mona, performing in two unmissable events at Poetry in Aldeburgh: Confinement: Exploring Feminist Perspectives & Gods, Girls and Reckless Birds Join us! poetryinaldeburgh.org/festival-progr… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
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