August is Women in Translation Month and The Poetry Society is joining in the celebration by highlighting poems from The Poetry Review archive – poems in translation by women poets and poems translated by women. Examples include Clara Janés translated by Louis Bourne, Lee Young-Ju and Jang Su-Jin, translated by Jae Kim (online already), and […]
News
Poets pay tribute to Jazzman John Clarke 1948-2018
Tributes have been paid to Jazzman John Clarke, a lovely man and regular performer at the Poetry Cafe and on the London poetry scene. “JC will leave a large hole in my life, a man who I admire, enjoy, love and will miss massively. London has also lost a pivot and a key connector, a […]
Matthew Sweeney 1952-2018
Tributes have been paid to Matthew Sweeney, who has died from Motor Neuron disease. Matthew Sweeney was born in Donegal and lived in Cork. He was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, and received a Cholmondeley Award and an Arts Council Writers’ Award. He was joint second in the National Poetry Competition […]
BBC Proms Poetry Competition 2018
In association with The Poetry Society, this year’s BBC Proms Poetry Competition is judged by poet and The Verb presenter Ian McMillan, poet Helen Mort and Poetry Society Director Judith Palmer. The competition challenges children and adults to write a poem inspired by any piece of music in this year’s Prom season. There are two categories: […]
“you need a bit of unpredictability” – Poetry Society director Judith Palmer on AI poetry on talkRADIO
Recent AI efforts to write poetry and emulate Shakespeare’s sonnets, as part of research conducted by IBM and the Universities of Melbourne and Toronto, have had some success, reportedly leaving some members of the public unable to distinguish the two. Addressing the question of whether computers had managed to create convincing (and good) poetry, Judith Palmer, […]
Success for Kerry Darbishire in Grey Hen Press Competition
Poetry Society Member Kerry Darbishire (who, incidentally, is the great great niece of the composer Frederick Delius down her mother’s side!) has come third in this year’s Grey Hen Press Poetry Competition for ‘My Mother’s House’. The competition was won by Kate Blackadder, with Merryn Williams second. The 2018 judges were Pauline Kirk and Carole […]
Michelle Penn wins Paper Swans pamphlet prize
It’s a clean sweep for Poetry Society Members in the 2018 Paper Swans Press Poetry Pamphlet prize. From the longlist of 15 pamphlets, the judge, Abegail Morley, chose the following top three: 1st place — Self-portrait as a diviner, failing by Michelle Penn (Abegail: “real finesse. The poet lures in the reader, there is a […]
Society of Authors awards
A great night for Poetry Society Members, with Ali Lewis and former Foyle Young Poet Annie Katchinksa included among the Eric Gregory Awards, presented annually by the Society of Authors for a collection of poems by a poet under 30, and Daljit Nagra and Kate Clanchy MBE among those receiving a Cholmondeley Award, recognising their […]
Romalyn Ante wins Poetry London Clore Prize
Poetry Society Member Romalyn Ante has won the Poetry London Clore Prize, judged by Kwame Dawes. Fellow Members Victor Tapner and Pascale Petit were among the Commended poets. In 2017, Romalyn was joint winner of the Manchester Writing Competition with Laura Webb, and was selected for the Primers mentoring and publications scheme, run by the […]
Canoes & Canals, Poetry & Paddles
A big splash over on the Waterlines website, where our Canal Laureate Nancy Campbell is about to set off on a week-long kayak trip along the Desmond Family Canoe Trail. Beginning in Liverpool and ending in Leeds, she’ll be paddling through Aintree, Parbold, Wigan, Blackburn and the locks and swing bridges in between. En route, […]
The Poetry Review: set for summer
Find yourself the perfect tree-dappled spot to savour the latest summer issue of The Poetry Review… We’ve new poems on the sea, squid, filial relationships, rain and the dodo by contributors including Heather Christle, Andre Bagoo, A.K. Blakemore, Hugo Williams, Helen Mort, Liz Berry, Wayne Holloway-Smith, Vidyan Ravinthiran, Martina Evans and Peter Gizzi. We’ve a […]
New film poems: SLAMbassadors in Angell Town
Over the Easter holidays The Poetry Society’s SLAMbassadors team took our spoken word project to South London and held a masterclass for local young poets at Brixton Recording Studio in Angell Town. Our young poets worked with SLAM maestro Joelle Taylor to produce new work which we captured in a series of videos made by […]
Poetry Society Members dominate the Poetry on the Lake competition
Poetry Society Members have won all three categories in this year’s Poetry on the Lake Competition. Jane Burn has won the Silver Wyvern Open Competition, with fellow Members Sarah Barr and Christopher North second and third, and Scott Elder among the Highly Commended poets. The judge, Fred Johnston, said: It was difficult to arrive at […]
Lindsey Holland wins Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry
Imtiaz Dharker has chosen five poets for the prestigious Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry, including Poetry Society Member Lindsey Holland alongside Elizabeth Barrett, Helen Mort, Eleanor Rees and Clare Shaw. Established in 2000 by New Writing North, the Northern Writers’ Awards supports work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England. The […]
Robert Minhinnick wins Wales Book of the Year
Robert Minhinnick’s highly acclaimed poetry collection, Diary of the Last Man (Carcanet) has been named Wales Book of the Year 2018. Robert also won the Roland Mathias Poetry Prize, receiving the overall prize of £4,000. Diary of the Last Man is described by the author as a walk across Britain; Brexit Britain, a Britain facing […]
Brittle Star winners announced
Poetry Society Member Maria Castro Dominguez is among the winning poets of this year’s Brittle Star Poetry Competition, judged by Pascale Petit and Jacqueline Gabbitas, with fellow Members S M H (Sue) Davies and N J Hynes picking up Commendations. Congratulations to them all and the other poets on the list. First Prize: Cathy Grindrod – […]
The RSL elects 40 new Fellows under the age of 40
The Royal Society of Literature has introduced 40 new Fellows under the age of 40, including The Poetry Review Editor Emily Berry, Poetry Society Members Inua Ellams, Sarah Howe (who has also been a guest editor of The Poetry Review), and Sabrina Mahfouz, and fellow poets Jay Bernard, Sophie Collins, Helen Mort, Kei Miller and […]
Pet Poet Laureate – is it you?
An amazing opportunity from Blue Cross popped into The Poetry Society inbox today. The animal charity is on the look-out for a Pet Poet Laureate – an emerging poet who has a little bit of experience of publishing and performing, and is keen to develop their skills amongst the UK’s cats, dogs and assorted furries […]
Fifth annual Timothy Corsellis Prize launches
The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network is pleased to launch the fifth annual Timothy Corsellis Prize. 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 the Second […]
SLAMbassadors 2018 launches
The Poetry Society’s national youth slam is back! This year, SLAMbassadors offers opportunities for all spoken word artists, MCs, rappers and performers who work with words aged 13 – 25. 13 – 18 year olds can now apply to take part in a free SLAMbassadors masterclass with Joelle Taylor on 17th and 18th November 2018 at The Poetry Society in London. […]
Winners of Geoffrey Dearmer and Hamish Canham prizes announced
Raymond Antrobus’s poem ‘Sound Machine’ is the winner of The Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize for the best poem in The Poetry Review during 2017. The Prize, which is awarded annually to a poem by a poet who hadn’t, at the time their work appeared, published a full collection, was judged this year by poet […]
Donald Hall, US poet laureate, dies at 89
Donald Hall was a prolific author who began writing when he was just 12 years old. Over the course of a career that spanned more than seven decades, he wrote over 40 books, about half of which were works of poetry. In 2006, he was appointed as U.S. Poet Laureate and awarded the 2010 National […]
New Windrush-themed Poems on the Underground
Today, 22 June 2018, marks 70 years since migrants from the Caribbean disembarked Windrush at Tilbury Docks, Essex. To commemorate this landmark anniversary, the summer set of Poems on the Underground has a Windrush theme, featuring poets from and around the Caribbean: James Berry, Andrew Salkey, Jean Binta Breeze, Lorna Goodison, Kwame Dawes and Grace Nichols. […]
Poets honoured in RSL’s election of new Fellows
Poets Julia Copus, David Morley, and Pascale Petit are included in the Royal Society of Literature’s new intake of 31 Fellows, with Neil Astley, Ruth Borthwick, Kwame Dawes and Nathalie Teitler receiving Honorary Fellowships for ‘significant contribution to the advancement of literature’. Election as a Fellow of the RSL is a uniquely prestigious literary honour, […]
Poetry, Plastic and the River
Our Canal Laureate Nancy Campbell finds herself paddling through the crisp packets and cigarette ends littering the River Lea. Read her latest blog on the power poetry has to tackle plastic pollution. The Canal Laureate project is part of a wider partnership between the Canal & River Trust and Arts Council England, which aims to attract […]
Ann Gray, Christopher North & Madeleine Wurzburger among winners of Poetry Business Competition
Congratulations to the winners of the Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition, judged by Liz Berry & David Constantine, including Poetry Society Members Ann Gray, Christopher North and Madeleine Wurzburger. The four winners are: Rebecca Cullen (Nottingham) for her collection Majid Sits in a Tree and Sings Ann Gray (Cornwall) for her collection I […]
Statuesque New Poems
From John Keats’ poem inspired by the Parthenon sculptures to Daljit Nagra’s 2017 collection British Museum, the sculpture collection has long been a subject of inspiration to poets. We’re delighted to be collaborating with our British Museum neighbours on a series of new commissions inspired by its exhibition Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece (running 26 April […]
Kate Clanchy awarded MBE for services to literature
Poetry Society Member Kate Clanchy has been awarded an MBE for services to literature in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Kate has been a teacher in state schools for nearly 30 years and is Writer in Residence at Oxford Spires Academy. Over the last nine years, she has nurtured creative talent at the school, whose pupils come […]
‘A Poem To Remember’: public vote now open for war poetry contest
The public vote is now open for A Poem To Remember, a new competition marking the centenary of the First World War. The judging panel, who whittled the entries down to a shortlist of 5 poems, was chaired by historian Dan Snow and included Andy McNab, Stephen Fry, Caroline Wyatt, JJ Chalmers, Katherine Rundell, Meena […]
Poetry Society Member Ellen Cranitch on Heaney First Collection shortlist
The shortlist for the Seamus Heaney Centre’s First Collection Poetry Prize has been announced and includes Poetry Society Member Ellen Cranitch. Ellen is a poet, journalist and teacher. Her prize-winning poetry is published by Templar and Carcanet Press and in many periodicals and magazines. She has taught at the University of St Andrews, City University […]
Young Poets take over The Poetry Café
On Saturday 2nd June, The Poetry Café welcomed Foyle Young Poets, Young Poets Network challenge winners and SLAMbassadors for an afternoon of readings. On the line-up were six stellar Foyle Young Poets: Sarah Fletcher, Lucy Thynne, Cia Mangat, Mukahang Limbu, Meredith LeMaître and Em Power. Three of these writers are also Young Poets Networkers and one is a SLAMbassadors champion, and the […]
Mustafa’s Jumper by Coral Rumble wins the Caterpillar Poetry Prize
The winning poem in the €1,000 Caterpillar Poetry Prize is ‘Mustafa’s Jumper’ by Poetry Society Member Coral Rumble. The prize is run by the junior art and literature magazine The Caterpillar and awarded annually to a single unpublished poem written by an adult for children. The judge this year was Chrissie Gittins. Coral said: “The Caterpillar […]
Colette Bryce wins the €8,000 Pigott Poetry Prize
Selected Poems 2000-2014 by Colette Bryce has won the €8,000 Pigott Poetry Prize 2018 at the opening night of Listowel Writers’ Week in Kerry. Adjudicators Billy Collins and Deryn Rees Jones selected the work from a shortlist that included Michael Longley’s Angel Hill and Sinéad Morrissey’s On Balance, winner of the 2017 Forward Prize for […]
Graham Burchell wins Red Shed Poetry Competition with ‘A Loss of Eden’
Many congratulations to all the winning, commended and shortlisted poets in this year’s Red Shed Poetry Competition. The winner this year is Poetry Society Member Graham Burchell (who won The Poetry Society’s Stanza Competition in 2015) for his poem ‘A Loss of Eden’, with fellow Member Jane Burn in second place for ‘On Dissecting the […]
Will Harris’s ‘SAY’ on Forward Prize shortlist
Huge congratulations to Will Harris, whose poem ‘SAY’ first published in The Poetry Review, Winter 2017 has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem, announced today. You can read the poem on the Review webpage and listen to him reading it in an exclusive recording. The Forward Prize shortlist also features Poetry […]
Robin Robertson wins Roehampton Poetry Prize for The Long Take
The winner of the fourth annual Roehampton Poetry Prize for best poetry collection of the year is Robin Robertson’s The Long Take, published by Picador. The award was founded to support poets of every nationality and age who live and work in Britain during the year their books were published. Each year, the eligible poetry […]
Ocean Vuong judges Geoffrey Dearmer Prize
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce that acclaimed poet Ocean Vuong, the winner of both the 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection with his debut Night Sky With Exit Wounds (Cape), will judge the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize 2017. It will be the first poetry prize he has judged […]
Graeme Ryan wins Teignmouth Poetry Competition
Many Poetry Society Members excelled in the Teignmouth Poetry Competition this year, with the winners announced at the Teignmouth Poetry Festival. In the Open Competition, judged by Pascale Petit, Society Members Sue Proffitt and Joanna Lowry were placed second and third behind the winner Graeme Ryan. Included on the shortlist were Frances Corkey Thompson and […]
Janet Murray wins €1,000 Fish Publishing Poetry Prize
This year’s judge for the Fish Publishing prize, Ellen Bass, has selected ten poems to be published in the 2018 Fish Anthology. The winner of the €1,000 first prize is ‘Vernacular Green’ by Janet Murray and there are ten Honorary Mentions including Poetry Society Members Gabriella Attems and Caroline Bracken who will both feature in […]
Joanne Key wins Hippocrates Open Prize
Poetry Society Member Joanne Key, who was second in the National Poetry Competition in 2014, has won the Hippocrates Open Prize for Poetry and Medicine, announced by judge Mark Doty at an awards ceremony at the Poetry Foundation, Chicago. Her winning poem was ‘Colony’ which concerned the distress of her father during his final illness. […]
Nikki Giovanni's "Poem for Aretha" (Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen) youtube.com/watch?v=IKBTFa…
Next Thurs 23 Aug 7.30pm @PoetrySociety's air-conditioned Poetry Cafe: Tamsin Cottis, @alice_hiller, Arjunan Manuelpillai, Lotte Lewis, @kostyanaut, Eleanor Bowen, Eileen Wiltcher, @McLaughlinJane3, Kwaku Amaning, Xaviera Ringeling + OPEN MIC. Free. poetrysociety.org.uk/event/bonanza8…
“every poem that falls / chandeliered / is about this distance / its heavy head on your lap” From ‘Oiled Legs Have Their Own Subtext’ by Momtaza Mehri @RuffneckRefugee (3rd prize, 2017) #NationalPoetryCompetition #WinningLines Enter for 2018 here: bit.ly/natpocomp
RIP Aretha Franklin. Your voice was a history book, a dance manual, a poetry collection and a map of some of the last century’s hardest roads. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Nikki Giovanni’s Poem for Aretha (from Truth Is On Its Way). Retweeted by The Poetry Society
A poem for Aretha Franklin. poets.org/poetsorg/poem/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
"Now, I really like your eyes when they look at me with that look. The one that is so fair-minded. It’s dangerous like a very powerful doorbell. Or a portrait covered with a blanket." Hear Chelsey Minnis read at Free Verse, 22 Sept. Tickets selling fast! bit.ly/freeverseminnis
National Portrait Gallery buys painting of young Dylan Thomas theguardian.com/artanddesign/2…
Oxford School of Poetry launches | The Bookseller thebookseller.com/news/oxford-sc…
“You’re not a poet because you get published, you’re a poet because you see the world in a totally different way, in a way that makes a difference to you and to other people” - John Lyons, Trinidad born poet who later moved to the UK. youtu.be/94nmjelCBUU #WednesdayWisdom Retweeted by The Poetry Society
New poetry editors at Paris Review! theparisreview.org/blog/2018/08/1… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Burns was popular among mice who felt he portrayed them sympathetically and they commissioned special editions of his work. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
I'll be reading from my new book 'Valour' (@brokensleep 2019) at the @PoetrySociety tonight. My witchy waters are telling me that many terrific poems and exchanges are going to take place. Join up! buff.ly/2Ml2VV9 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
US-poet Chelsey Minnis - gala reading at Free Verse 22nd Sept 7.30pm with Q & A and drinks reception - tickets here bit.ly/freeverseminnis Retweeted by The Poetry Society
#OTD 1785, Thomas De Quincey born. Author of Recollections of the Lake Poets & Confessions of an English Opium Eater. He lived at Dove Cottage after the Wordsworths, bringing 30 chests of books (and it really isn't a big house) Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Someone described a cover I designed as a cross between Gallimard Collection Blanche and WWll composting handbook. Now look at this magnificent thing just arrived in the post thanks to Candlestick Press @poetrycandle Great inside too and comes with a donation to a rivers charity Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Opinion | Remaking the World: Poetry and Disability nytimes.com/2018/08/15/opi…
Have you got a poem inspired by something in this year’s Proms? Adult and under 18s categories. Deadline 19 August @bbcproms @PoetrySociety twitter.com/BBCPhilharmoni… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Don't forget to get your entries into the @bbcproms poetry competition - write in response to any of the music on this year's programme and you could be on the radio with @IMcMillan. Find out more and enter by this Sunday 19 August: bit.ly/promspoetrycomp
Tonight @PoetrySociety cafe New Words / New Work led by @poetniall See you there #poetry twitter.com/poetniall/stat… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Join @timmysmells , @DanielCockrill , @AnnaCarlaKahn , @mrgeepoet and @EHwords at the @PoetrySociety Poetry Cafe this Wednesday 7.30pm for Bloodletting, a night of new material and works in progress. Free entry with an optional whip round with no skint-shaming.
— Niall O'Sullivan (@poetniall) August 12, 2018