Members' AreaThe National Poetry Competition 2021 judges discuss poems and how to approach them in a new podcast to accompany this year’s competition countdown to the closing date on 31 October. The Poetry Society speaks to this year’s National Poetry Competition judges Fiona Benson, David Constantine and Rachel Long in a wide-ranging conversation that contemplates the […]
National Poetry Competition
Reality-twisting suspense and mystery: a Q & A with National Poetry Competition artist Whooli Chen
As the closing date of this year’s National Poetry Competition approaches at the end of next month, Ben Rogers at The Poetry Society spoke to Whooli Chen, this year’s National Poetry Competition artist, about some of her inspirations and preoccupations. You’ve revealed previously that Whooli is the pronunciation for fox in Chinese and that you […]
“the shifting, haunting nature of memory”: a new National Poetry Competition resource by Natalie Linh Bolderston
The Poetry Society has commissioned a new writing and discussion guide to accompany the National Poetry Competition 2021 from poet Natalie Linh Bolderston. Natalie’s poem ‘Middle Name with Diacritics’ won third prize in the National Poetry Competition 2019, and has recently been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem 2021. The new writing […]
Paul Farley announced as new judge for the Peggy Poole Award
The Poetry Society has announced Liverpool-born poet Paul Farley as the judge and mentor of the Peggy Poole Award 2021. The Peggy Poole Award 2021 will be the fifth year of the Award which supports new writers in the North West of England who come through the National Poetry Competition. Paul Farley said: “Having been […]
Marvin Thompson wins the National Poetry Competition
Marvin Thompson has been announced by The Poetry Society as the winner of the National Poetry Competition at the National Poetry Competition Awards event live on Zoom. Judges Neil Astley, Jonathan Edwards and Karen McCarthy Woolf have awarded first prize for the National Poetry Competition for Marvin Thompson’s poem ‘The Fruit of the Spirit is […]
Maria Isakova-Bennett wins the Peggy Poole Award
The Poetry Society has announced that Maria Isakova-Bennett has been chosen by poet and editor Vona Groarke as the winner of the Peggy Poole Award 2020, at the National Poetry Competition Awards event live on Zoom on 25 March. Maria will receive mentoring from Vona as her prize, culminating in a celebratory reading in the […]
Poetry-on-sea: Poetry in Aldeburgh 2020
The Poetry Society is pleased to once again be supporting the recently announced Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival programme. As part of a rich and varied line-up, The Poetry Society will host a digital reading event ‘Nature and Nurture’ on Sunday 15 November at 5pm GMT featuring poets Joe Dunthorne, Charlotte Knight, Elaine Beckett and Ian […]
National Poetry Competition 2020: Then & Now
To mark the final week of the National Poetry Competition 2020 being open for entries, The Poetry Society is releasing a series of five video readings each weekday at 1pm GMT as part of a series called ‘Then & Now’. In each short video, a poet who has previously been placed in the competition reads […]
Polite Safety Notice film to screen at virtual social change film festival
The poetry film ‘Polite Safety Notice’, adapted by animator Aindri C from the Mark Fiddes poem of the same name, has been selected for screening at the ChangeFest Virtual Film Festival 2020, the International Social Change Film Festival. The film has been selected for a ‘Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability and Animal Justice’ programme of short […]