While poets and readers all over the globe celebrate poetry in a multiplicity of languages and voices, we’ve gone local. Hyper local. We’ve zoomed right in to the Monmouth and Brecon Canal, setting for a new filmpoem made by Chris Morris and based on a poem by Jonathan Edwards. Canal Song – newly uploaded to […]
News
“creativity is an ongoing battle with language”- a Q & A with Mark Ford
In advance of his reading at the ‘In Town Tonight’ event on Friday 22nd March at The Poetry Café with Phillis Levin, Ben Rogers at The Poetry Society spoke to the poet Mark Ford You lived in Kenya until the age of four and the process of writing the poem ‘After Africa’, about your move […]
“to create something when no one is looking” – a Q & A with Phillis Levin
In advance of her ‘In Town Tonight’ reading on Friday 22nd March at The Poetry Café with Mark Ford, Ben Rogers at The Poetry Society spoke to the American poet Phillis Levin Poet Kimiko Khan described The Penguin Book of the Sonnet: 500 Years of a Classic Tradition in English as “one of my desert-island […]
Jenny Mitchell and Carl Griffin win Geoff Stevens Prize
Congratulations! to Poetry Society Members Jenny Mitchell and Carl Griffin, winners of the 2018 Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize organised by Indigo Dreams Publishing. As a result of their joint win both Jenny and Carl will have new publications coming out later in the year. Jenny was recently Highly Commended in the Poems For Home […]
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2019 now open for entries
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2019 is now open for entries. This year, we’re delighted that award-winning poets Jackie Kay and Raymond Antrobus will be our judges. Raymond joined Birmingham’s Poet Laureate and former Foyle Young Poet Richard O’Brien at Harborne Academy, Birmingham, to launch this year’s competition and celebrate World Book […]
National Poetry Competition 40th anniversary: Q & A with Fran Lock
In advance of the National Poetry Competition’s 40th anniversary readings at Kings Place on 20th March, The Poetry Society speaks to one of the ten poets featuring at the event, Fran Lock who won third prize and was commended in the National Poetry Competition 2014 and 2015 respectively with poems ‘Epistle from inside the Sharknado’ […]
Teignmouth Poetry Festival shortlist
Plenty of Poetry Society Members (highlighted below) on the shortlist for the 2019 Teignmouth Poetry Festival. Winners to be announced Saturday 23 March. This year’s Festival is 21 to 24 March and includes Brian Patten, Kim Moore, Fiona Benson, Martin Figura and Gill McEvoy. Open Competition shortlist in alphabetical order – Judge John Greening Mark Cooper […]
Jane Wilkinson wins Against the Grain Poetry Press competition
Congratulations to the winners and commended entries in the Against the Grain Poetry Press competition – judged by Abegail Morley, Karen Dennison and Jessica Mookherjee (ATG editors). The winner is Poetry Society Member Jane Wilkinson and all three Commended Poets are Poetry Society Members too: Olga Dermott-Bond, Emma Lee and Jane Lovell. Winners First prize […]
Jane Lovell wins Terrain.org 9th Annual Poetry Contest
Judge Jane Hirshfield has chosen Poetry Society Member Jane Lovell as the winner of the Terrain.org 9th Annual Poetry Contest. Jane wins $500 and each finalist is awarded $100. “These poems stood out for me for their word-choices—“cockled,” “tines,” “syphon”; for their depth of knowledge; for their ability to acknowledge how much cannot be known; and […]
Jane Lovell and Jane Burn winners of Tree Poets : Shade of Fire Competition
Hedgehog Poetry Press are publishing six poets who won their Tree Poets competition, including Poetry Society Members Jane Lovell and Jane Burn. The winners, in no apparent order, are: Jane Lovell, Frank McHugh, Jane Burn, Kate Garrett, Elizabeth Gibson and Kay Channon. Their work will be published, split across two pamphlets: Tree Poets : Shades […]
Steve May wins Poems for Home competition in aid of Shelter
Poetry Society Member Steve May is the winner of an inaugural competition for original poetry on the theme of Home, judged by Michael Harrison and John Hegley. 100% of the entry fee went directly to Shelter. Across Scotland and England 6 million households are denied the right to a safe home, or threatened with losing […]
National Poetry Competition 40th anniversary: Q & A with Stephen Sexton
In advance of the National Poetry Competition’s 40th anniversary readings at Kings Place on 20th March, The Poetry Society speaks to one of the ten poets featuring at the event Stephen Sexton, who won the National Poetry Competition in 2016 with his poem ‘The Curfew’, which you can read here. What first encouraged you to […]
National Poetry Competition 40th anniversary: Q & A with Ian Duhig
In advance of the National Poetry Competition’s 40th anniversary readings at Kings Place on 20th March, The Poetry Society speaks to one of the ten poets featuring at the event Ian Duhig, who has incredibly won the National Poetry Competition twice. What first encouraged you to write poems? Poetry is highly-regarded in Ireland and I […]
Poetry Society Member Molly Underwood wins £10,000 Manchester Poetry Prize
Poetry Society Member Molly Underwood has won this year’s £10,000 Manchester Poetry Prize, awarded for a portfolio of poems. Molly said: “I’d like to express my gratitude towards everyone involved with the Manchester Poetry Prize: to Carol Ann Duffy, for establishing the award; to the Manchester Writing School, for the huge amount of work that […]
‘An Entertainment for W. S. Graham’ competition
The Poetry Society has two tickets to give away for its event ‘An Entertainment for W. S. Graham’ on 7pm, Friday 8th February marking the centenary of W. S. Graham, celebrating his life and legacy. The event will feature readings from editors of, and contributors to, a new anthology of poems inspired by Graham published […]
Samuel Prince wins Cafe Writers Competition
Daljit Nagra has chosen his winner for this year’s Café Writers Competition. “I loved judging this competition that gave me a portal into Britain and abroad. There were many well written and imaginative entries that showed a respect for the craft of verse while pushing at the boundaries of form to create fresh poetry. Well […]
Sarah Doyle wins WoLF Poetry Competition
Poetry Society Member Sarah Doyle is the winner of the WoLF poetry competition for her poem ‘On holding an ammonite’. The competition is run by Write Out Loud on behalf of Wolverhampton literature festival, which will take place over the weekend of 1-3 February. Fellow Society Members Jean Atkin and Michael Brown were second and […]
Tribute to Richard Copeland (1945-2018)
Richard ‘Dick’ Copeland, Poetry Society Member and North Herts Stanza Rep for the Letchworth-based Poetry ID, passed away on Christmas Day 2018. Friends and fellow poets pay tribute. “Dick was a mainstay of the group, attending every week if he could with his wife Ann, also an excellent poet, since they first joined over 18 […]
New Poetry Society podcast with sam sax and Joelle Taylor
“… It made me realize what you can write about and how you can use language to exert power on the world and your own life.” The Poetry Society has released a new podcast with US poet sam sax, hosted by Joelle Taylor. The podcast also features our eight SLAMbassadors from 2018, and was recorded […]
Foyle Young Poet Rebels on Radio 3
Foyle Young Poets Jade Cuttle and Aisha Mango Borja will both have their poems read by Natalie Simpson on 30 December 2018 as part of BBC Radio 3’s Words and Music programme. The programme will be available from 17.30 on 30 December here. This episode of Words and Music is titled Rebel, Rebel, marking the […]
Festive new poetry film of ‘Look Into My Lights’
The Poetry Society has released a short film of Joseph Coelho’s new poem ‘Look Into My Lights’, commissioned as part of the Look North More Often programme. The short film, created by Hamlett Films, follows three pupils from St Clement Danes Primary School on the day of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree lighting up ceremony, […]
Words for winter from The Poetry Society
Turn off the TV, unpeel yourself a satsuma and settle down with the latest copies of The Poetry Review and Poetry News, which will either have safely landed on your doormat, or are speeding the last few miles to you through the post. The latest issue of The Poetry Review includes new poems by Fleur […]
Alice Willitts wins Magma Pamphlet Competition
Magma have been running a pamphlet competition to celebrate their 25th birthday and the winner is Alice Willitts for Dear, which will be published next spring. Lisa Kelly: (Dear) received unanimous support from the Magma judges. Every one of us liked it for its imagination, the way it takes interesting risks and the effective use […]
Amy Acre wins Verve Poetry Festival competition
The winners of the 2019 Verve Poetry Festival competition, on the theme of ‘community’, have been chosen by judge Joelle Taylor. The three winning poets will appear at the festival and will read alongside the 21 other commended poets and 6 others who have been commissioned for the anthology by Verve. First place goes to […]
SLAMbassadors 2018
On 18 November 2018 we celebrated another year of SLAMbassadors at King’s Place, London. Eight young poets took part in a writing and performance masterclass led by Joelle Taylor across the weekend of 17-18 November. They then performed brilliant new work created in the masterclasses at Sunday’s Showcase. Big up this year’s SLAMbassadors Aaisha Alfathi, […]
Schools poetry competition celebrated at House of Lords
On 10 December Tally Koren and Lord Eames hosted a reception in the River Room of the House of Lords to celebrate the winners of a poetry competition for UK schools on the theme of peace. The event, called ‘Visions of Hope’, included short talks by The Poetry Society’s Director, Judith Palmer; poet Pete Brown; […]
Sarah Barr wins National Memory Day poetry competition
Poetry Society Member Sarah Barr is the winner of this year’s National Memory Day poetry competition for her poem ‘Fog’, and there was further success for fellow member Kathy Miles who was third for ‘Brock’. Poetry Society Member Tony Ward won first prize ‘What Will Survive of Us’ in the Best Poem by a Primary […]
Joseph Coelho’s new poem adorns Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree
This year marks ten years of Look North More Often, a collaborative Christmas poetry programme. Since 2009, The Poetry Society has commissioned a new poem by a children’s writer to celebrate the friendship between Oslo and London, as symbolised by the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. Joseph Coelho wrote this year’s poem, taking inspiration from London […]
Zillah Bowes and Molly Underwood on Manchester Poetry Prize shortlist
Poetry Society Members Zillah Bowes and Molly Underwood are on a five-strong shortlist in the £10,000 Manchester Poetry Prize that also includes Katie Hale, Libby Hart and Maggie Millner. Zillah is a writer and filmmaker. She has won the Wordsworth Trust Prize and Poems on the Buses Competition, and was shortlisted for the Wasafiri New […]
Jay Whittaker wins Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of 2018
Poetry Society Member Jay Whittaker, from Edinburgh, is this year’s winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Poetry Book of the Year for her first full-length poetry collection Wristwatch (Cinnamon Press). Jay: “It was a huge honour – and very exciting – when Wristwatch was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish Poetry Book of the Year […]
Shortlist, 2018 Costa Poetry Award
Congratulations to the four poets on the shortlist for the 2018 Costa Poetry Award. Us by Zaffar Kunial (Faber & Faber) Assurances by J. O. Morgan (Jonathan Cape) Soho by Richard Scott (Faber & Faber) Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan (Faber & Faber) In 2011, Zaffar Kunial won third prize in the National Poetry Competition […]
Gina Wilson on shortlist for Michael Marks Award
The shortlist for the 2018 The Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets has been announced and includes Poetry Society Member Gina Wilson for ‘It Was and It Wasn’t’ (Mariscat Press). Congratulations to Gina and her fellow poets on the shortlist: Liz Berry, Ian Parks, Rakshan Rizwan and Carol Rumens. Gina’s first poetry pamphlet, Scissors, Paper, […]
Pippa Little wins Carers UK Competition
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Pippa Little who has won this year’s Carers UK poetry competition, judged by Cheryl Moskowitz. Cheryl says of Pippa’s winning poem ‘Inside with English Breakfast’: (it) invites us to view the world through the window of a café and conjures a scene so real you can almost taste it with […]
Luke Palmer wins Prole Pamphlet Competition
Mab Jones has picked Poetry Society Member Luke Palmer as winner of this year’s Prole Pamphlet Competition for Spring in the Hospital, which is available to purchase now from Prole. Fellow Member Scott Elder was Commended for My Hotel. A second Commendation went to Paul Jeffcutt for True. Mab on Spring in the Hospital After […]
Clean sweep for Poetry Society Members: Battered Moons won by Julia Webb
The top three places in this year’s Battered Moons Poetry Competition have been taken by Poetry Society Members with Julia Webb winning for her poem ‘We is in the bank’, with all bar one of the Commended poets being Society Members too. The competition was judged by Jacob Sam La-Rose and Cristina Navazo-Eguía Newton with […]
Foyle Young Poets at RAPAPUK Legacies of Colonialism conference
On Saturday 27 October four Foyle Young Poets caught the train to Cambridge for the Race & Poetry & Poetics conference Legacies of Colonialism, accompanied by Education Co-ordinator and Foyle Young Poet Helen Bowell, and poet Cheryl Moskowitz. As part of this year’s 20th anniversary celebrations of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, […]
Poet Colin Watts visits South Shore Academy
On Saturday 10 November the brilliant poet and educator Colin Watts visited South Shore Academy in Blackpool. The school entered students’ poems into the Young Poets Network challenge with End Hunger UK and won a prize draw to receive a free poet visit. Colin delivered workshops as part of the school’s weekly ‘Shine at South […]
John Freeman wins Bridport Poetry Prize
Poetry Society Member John Freeman is this year’s £5,000 winner of the Bridport Poetry Prize for his poem ‘Exhibition’, judged by Daljit Nagra. John was winner of Wales Book of the Year (poetry) 2017 for What Possessed Me (Worple), and National Poetry Competition 3rd prize winner in 2013. Fellow Society Members Vanessa Lampert and Sam […]
Claire Collison and Anita Pati awarded Women Poets’ Prize
Left to Right: Anita Pati, Nina Mingya Powles, Claire Collison Congratulations to Poetry Society Members Claire Collison and Anita Pati who, along with Nina Mingya Powles, are the winners of the first-ever Women Poets’ Prize – launched this year by the Rebecca Swift Foundation in memory of Rebecca, founder of the Literary Consultancy, an editorial […]
Happy 223rd Birthday John Keats
The Poetry Society in partnership with the Keats Foundation and Keats House celebrated the birth of poet John Keats today with a service in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. In an annual event, fans of John Keats gathered at the Abbey to read a selection of his poems and lay a wreath by the […]
Recording with @RepeatBeatPoet for our @apoemaweek podcast at the @PoetrySociety Caff today... Lots of fun and a special bonus episode recorded too... Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Enter the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award, a literary prize offering £1000, membership to @PoetrySociety, a subscription to @GrantaMag and books courtesy @Vintagebooks. Share your #poetry or #shortfiction. Image: Massimo Colonna. aestheti.cc/5xdj7 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Poet Malika Booker joins Manchester Writing School: the inaugural Poet-in-Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company will support early career writers. www2.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-event… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Next Wednesday 27th March come to a FREE reading with the incomparable @chrissywilliams @Anna_Selby and @iamrichardscott at @PoetrySociety ‘s poetry cafe! For details: poetrysociety.org.uk/event/the-frie… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Poet Emilia Bassano isn't the only woman denied her place in the literary canon. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Tribute to former Ambit editor Henry Graham theguardian.com/books/2019/mar…
📢Work with us! 📢 We are recruiting for a part-time PUBLISHING COORDINATOR to start in May. £22k pro rata, 2 days/wk in our office in London E1. Looking for someone who ❤️ books & brings a strong spreadsheet game. Apply here: bit.ly/2CxtZcK #publishing #publishingjobs Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Did you know we often share free stuff in The Poetry Café? We've just restocked on #PoemsontheUnderground posters and #FoyleYoungPoets 2018 anthologies - come and pick up yours today! (But please don't accidentally wander off with the books we do charge for...)
Are you aged 25 or younger, or do you work with poets in this age range? We've been working with US poet Peter Kahn to challenge young writers to pen Golden Shovel poems. Check out the challenge on Young Poets Network and enter by 31 March - next... bit.ly/goldenshovels
Overripe in September they need to rest in the icebox, sitting with their bruises From Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan, shortlisted for the 2018 Ted Hughes Award #TedHughesShortlist poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/t…
How to Celebrate World Poetry Day - and ANY Poetry Day! Including @PoetrySociety PoetryCafe countryandtownhouse.co.uk/culture/nation…
This filmpoem by Chris Morris inspired by a Jonathan Edwards is a thing of watery beauty - dive in, ducklings. bit.ly/canalsong #artonthewaterways Retweeted by The Poetry Society
A late one from us for #WorldPoetryDay: This is one of the bronze medals that was awarded to the winners at the @PoetrySociety's Shakespeare Quatercentenary play and sonnet competitions, verse-speaking and drama festival #SBTCollections Retweeted by The Poetry Society
From Bukowski to Hemingway: There’s a problem with the way we idolise drunk male writers independent.co.uk/arts-entertain…
Arvon and @JerwoodArts are delighted to announce the 2019/20 cohort of Jerwood/Arvon mentees – nine emerging writers about to begin a year of mentoring in the categories of Fiction, Playwriting and Poetry: #JerwoodArvon arvon.org/jerwood-arvon-… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Sign has no future or past; it is a present language You are never more present than when a gun Is pointed at you From The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus, shortlisted for the 2018 Ted Hughes Award #TedHughesShortlist poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/t…
Listen up! This #WorldPoetryDay, snap up wordy wonders from the @PoetrySociety: as spotted on @copperwatson: ✍️ ow.ly/nRFO30mMRm9 Retweeted by The Poetry Society