Members' AreaNovember is Islamophobia Awareness Month, and – through poetry – we are pleased to support MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development) in their movement for change towards a less divisive and more inclusive society. A look through our publication and project archives reveals a wealth of great work by and inspired by Muslim writers to inspire […]
News
New memorial to the “mother of feminism”
A new memorial sculpture to Mary Wollstonecraft, writer, Englightenment philospher and human rights advocate has been unveiled today in Newington Green, London, near where she lived and worked. The sculpture has been made by artist Maggi Hambling. Wollstonecraft was the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), the first book in English […]
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 […]
A new foundation for black poets
The Poetry Society is delighted to support a new foundation for black poets, the Obsidian Foundation, launched by award-winning poet Nick Makoha. The Obsidian Foundation will provide a one-week retreat for black poets of African descent, who often face multiple barriers of access to literary resources and professional development. The retreat will be led by […]
Lydia Harris wins Paper Swans pamphlet prize
It’s 1,2,3 for Poetry Society Members in this year’s Paper Swans Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize, judged by Carrie Etter. First prize: Lydia Harris, A Small Space Second prize: Mark Russell, Wild & Irregular Third prize: David Hale, Beating the Bounds Carrie: Narrowing from the longlist of 13 to a final three places was every bit […]
Lewis Buxton wins Winchester Poetry Prize
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Lewis Buxton, winner of the 2020 Winchester Poetry Competition for his poem ‘Field Dressing a Rabbit’, judged by Andrew McMillan. Second and third prizes went to fellow Poetry Society Members Claire Collison for ‘Little Deaths’ and Luke Palmer for ‘Desire | Youth’. Highly Commended Poetry Society Members were Lewis Buxton (again) […]
Jenny Mitchell wins Aryamati Poetry Prize
Many congratulations to Poetry Society Member Jenny Mitchell, winner of The Aryamati Poetry Prize, judged by Kayla Jenkins and Amber Rollinson. The joint runners-up are fellow Poetry Society Members Joanna Lilley and Julian Bishop. 1st Place: Jenny Mitchell with poem: Imagining a Forest Made of Freedom “Our undisputed favourite this year, for its skilful and […]
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 […]
Joanne Key wins Buzzwords Poetry Competition
Penelope Shuttle has chosen ‘Strange Nature’ by Poetry Society Member Joanne Key from over 1,000 entries to be the winner of this year’s Buzzwords Poetry Competition. Fellow Poetry Society Member Penny Boxall is one of the joint runners-up with ‘Monument Valley’. Among the Commended poets are Society Members Ama Bolton and Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana and David […]
Pascale Petit wins Laurel Prize
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Pascale Petit, chosen as the winner of the inaugural ecopoetry prize, The Laurel Prize, organised by the UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and the Poetry School. Pascale wins £5000 for Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe). Winner of the £500 Best First Collection award went to fellow Poetry Society Member Matt Howard for […]
Joe Neal wins Write by the Sea International Poetry Competition
Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Joe Neal, winner of the the Write by the Sea International Poetry Competition, announced by Colm Tóibín. Joe won with his poem ‘The Savage Sea’. Fellow Society Member Nathaniel Frankland was third with ‘Fitted Bedsheet Beahes’. We carve to heel and catch the wind while green-flash light parts curtain mist […]
Tackling food poverty: resources for teachers
With Marcus Rashford keeping food poverty in the headlines, we know teachers will be thinking about food insecurity. There’s nothing more direct than supporting a food poverty charity, but there are ways poetry can bear witness to the situation across the UK, and things poets can do to help. Recently, The Poetry Society’s Young Poets […]
Black History Month 2020
October is Black History Month, and to mark the occasion The Poetry Society has identified a selection of its latest content that celebrates Black culture, from its programme of educational activities, commissions and its journal The Poetry Review. For young readers, The Poetry Society has gathered together a series of favourite poetry books for young […]
“When in doubt, cut it out” – A National Poetry Competition interview with Neil Astley
Following on from our Q&As with Karen McCarthy Woolf, our next National Poetry Competition Q&A comes from Neil Astley, poet and editor of Bloodaxe Books. What advice would you give to entrants looking at a blank page? You shouldn’t be looking at a blank page if you’ve haven’t already got a line in your head […]
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award Results
The Poetry Society has announced today the top 15 winners and 85 commended poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2020 at a virtual prize-giving ceremony. Find the winning poems here. Run by The Poetry Society and generously supported by the Foyle Foundation, this has been an extraordinary 22nd year for The […]
Congratulations to all on the T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist
Huge congratulations to all on the 2020 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist, judged by Lavinia Greenlaw (Chair), Mona Arshi and Andrew McMillan. The shortlisted poets are: Natalie Diaz – Postcolonial Love Poem (Faber) Sasha Dugdale – Deformations (Carcanet) Ella Frears – Shine Darling (Offord Road Books) Will Harris – RENDANG (Granta) Wayne Holloway-Smith – Love Minus […]
Poems grow on trees: Foyle Young Poets 2020
To celebrate the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2020 in readiness for this year’s awards cermony, The Poetry Society has commissioned artist Imogen Foxell to create an illustration that brings together motifs for all one hundred winning poems from this year’s competition, from banana to boot, peacock to pack of cards. […]
Louise Glück wins Nobel Prize
Congratulations to the celebrated US poet Louise Glück, who has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, the fourth woman to win the prize for literature since 2010. The Swedish Academy, which oversees the award, said that Glück had been recognised for “her unmistakable poetic voice, that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”. Born in […]
Derek Mahon, 1941–2020
We are sorry to report that Derek Mahon, among the most celebrated of modern Northern Irish poets, died in Cork on 1 October 2020, following a short illness. He was 78. Mahon’s poem, ‘A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford’, is often chosen as a ‘desert island poem’, and his poem ‘Everything is Going to be […]
The poetry eye test
As part of The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Day celebrations behold a ‘Vision’-themed quiz, the ‘Poetry Eye Test’. Can you identify all ten bespectacled poets correctly? To enter, email your ten answers to [email protected] with the subject line POETRY EYE TEST by 10am Monday 5 October to win one of three copies of the new […]
Lesley Ingram wins The Poetry Society’s 2020 Stanza Competition
We are delighted to announce that Lesley Ingram from Herefordshire Stanza is the winner of our 2020 Stanza Competition for her poem ‘Confession’, chosen by Heidi Williamson. Heidi: “The quiet title ‘Confession’ draws us in to intimately witness a domestic scene with repercussions across the years… The poem interrogates what is felt and meant between […]
A bard’s eye view: National Poetry Day 2020
Happy National Poetry Day! This year’s National Poetry Day is on the theme of ‘Vision’ and to celebrate The Poetry Society has assembled a glittering array of activities through the day including video readings of Stanza and Member competition winners, a retrospective of poetry films, a quiz, a writing resource and a special free online […]
Members’ News round-up: inc Ambit, Rebecca Swift, Live Canon, Winchester, Forward Prizes
Dan Simpson has been appointed as Poet-in-Residence for St Alban’s Cathedral. Read more S. K. Grout and Roy McFarlane second and third in Ambit Poetry Competition. Julie Irigaray, Yvette Siegert and April Yee Commended. Read more Rebecca Swift Foundation Women Poets’ Prize longlist: Vicki Husband, Annie Fan, Eve Ellis, Charlotte Knight, Bryony Littlefair, Jeri Onitskansky, […]
The Poetry Review: autumn harvest
In the post: the new Poetry Review, a really vital journal of record for these stormy times when worked-on language can be our lighthouse and our lifeboat.” – Ian McMillan on Twitter, September 2020 The latest, magnificent issue of The Poetry Review, edited by Emily Berry, is just published. It includes fiery, speculative and moving […]
The Poetry Society AGM 2020
If you are a member of The Poetry Society, please join us at The Poetry Society AGM 2020, from 6.30pm, Monday 23 November 2020. Due to coronavirus restrictions, this year the AGM will be held online via Zoom, which we hope this means even more of you than usual will be able to come along […]
A modern-day spell against the darkness
The Poetry Society in association with the Canal & River Trust have commissioned a new poem by Hebden Bridge poet Ian Humphreys. Ian’s poem – ‘Treading Water’ – is a tender elegy for his mum, set near where he lives alongside the Rochdale Canal. He says ‘The poem describes a walk we went on a […]
Anne Stevenson, 1933–2020
Anne Stevenson, a hugely influential poet, penetrating critic and passionate presence in British and American poetry and letters, died on 14 September 2020, at the age of 87. She had a rich life. Though born in Cambridge, England, of American parents, Stevenson’s earliest years were spent in the States where her father, a philosopher, taught […]
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 […]
International Literacy Day shelfie special
Today is International Literacy Day, an annual celebration of reading and writing to emphasise the importance of literacy as a human right and the importance of lifelong literacy learning for youth and adults. International Literacy Day 2020 focuses on “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond”, during a turbulent year when many […]
“Read forensically”: A National Poetry Competition interview with Karen McCarthy Woolf
The next in our series of Q&As with the National Poetry Competition 2020 judges is here, this time with poet and broadcaster Karen McCarthy Woolf. It joins our previous ice cream-themed Q&A with Jonathan Edwards. What advice would you give to entrants looking at a blank page? A blank page can be daunting. Give yourself […]
The lyric eye: National Poetry Day 2020
Now less than a month away, this year’s National Poetry Day takes place on 1 October 2020 and the theme is vision. To celebrate the occasion on the day, The Poetry Society is lining up a glittering array of activities for you to engage with, whether you’ve time that day to give poetry a fleeting […]
Poems now arriving on platform 2
Those travelling by the London Underground recently might have noticed many of the posters are advertising past attractions ‘Coming Soon – April 2020’, or that everything smells exceptionally clean. However, one feature remains just as it ever was – and that’s the Poems on the Underground posters. A new set of Poems of the […]
Masks and sea creatures: new resources accompany Poetry Review
The Poetry Society has developed new workshop resources as an accompaniment to The Poetry Review, which provide points of discussion and writing prompts inspired by poems selected from the journal. These resources can be used in the classroom, with fellow poetry enthusiasts, or for individuals to spur their creativity while exploring some intriguing new poems. […]
Sandeep Parmer and Mary Jean Chan feature in the newest Poetry Review podcast
The Poetry Review‘s new podcast is here, featuring a discussion between Review contributor Sandeep Parmar and Mary Jean Chan, guest co-editor with Will Harris of the spring 2020 issue. Sandeep reads her poem, ‘The Nineties’, and reflects on its origins – growing up in California at the time of the L.A. riots, which followed the […]
Julia Copus wins inaugural Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry
Arrowsmith Press, in partnership with The Derek Walcott Festival in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, have announced Poetry Society Member Julia Copus as the winner of the first annual Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, awarded to a full-length book of poems by a living non-US citizen. Julia’s collection Girlhood was chosen to receive […]
A new National Poetry Competition writing resource from Ella Frears
The next in our series of writing guides is here, this time by National Poetry Competition 2018 commended poet Ella Frears. Ella’s resource explore how poems can be made timeless, looking at poems exploring the unknowable and inexpressable – and the way the timelessness of those poems can apply to the here and now. You […]
Brand new digital content from The Poetry Society: Nick Makoha podcast and more
Indoors this weekend thanks to some long-awaited rainfall? Here’s a roundup of all our latest digital content for you to enjoy. Will Harris speaks to Nick Makoha in The Poetry Review’s latest podcast Will Harris and Nick Makoha, prizewinning poets both, talk about Nick’s poems in the spring 2020 issue of The Poetry Review and […]
International Cat Day
To mark International Cat Day, The Poetry Society has gathered up a series of cat poems and readings to accompany the global celebration of our feline friends. Check #InternationalCatDay on The Poetry Society’s Twitter account on Saturday 8 August for a series of cat poetry videos (and puns) from the recent Poetry Society Members’ Poetry […]
Poetry Society Members’ News round-up: Creative Future Writers Award, Crabbe Poetry Competition, Vernal Equinox, Lord Whisky Animal Sanctuary
Helen Grant, Liam Bates and Ginny Darke were on the shortlist for a Creative Future Writers’ Award. The aim of the award is to give an opportunity to writers to develop their work through training, mentoring, assessment and coaching. The Poetry Society’s Helen Bowell wins a Bronze award. Read more David Healey was Highly Commended […]
Cindy Botha wins Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition
‘Hermit Crab in a Doll’s Head’ by Poetry Society Member Cindy Botha is the winner of this year’s Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition judged by Pascale Petit. Fellow Society Members Jo Peters and Jemma Borg were Highly Commended. Cindy Botha began writing poetry in late 2017 as a relief from being sole-carer for her […]
From “Poem to my son as Darth Vader” by Brandon Thurman “Are bad guys real? I want to tell you that people are good; it’s this world we’re making that’s bad. I have a mouth full of easy answers. Too soon now you’ll have to take off that mask & breathe this impossible air.”
One of the most useful lines from movies (to say to myself on Sunday mornings) is Ginger Rogers saying, ‘Honey, you’re still in your robe!’ Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Rishi Dastidar’s poetry book round-up in @guardian twitter.com/betarish/statu…
My latest for @guardianreview, my round up of what has been a great year for poetry books; tonics while we haven't been able to gather at readings &c: https://t.co/WT8fqCGNAZ
— Rishi Dastidar (@BetaRish) November 28, 2020
Till on a day roaving the field, I chanc'd A goodly Tree farr distant to behold Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mixt, Ruddie and Gold: I nearer drew to gaze; ... 🍏 On finding a new apple tree ... 🍎 theguardian.com/food/2020/nov/…
Coming up next week - poetry and epidemics twitter.com/ianduhig/statu…
Speaking of seasonal events . . . check out "From Irish Fever to Chinese Flu - The Racialisation of Epidemics" with new poetry from @Kit_Fan_ @MadamMiaow & me in an important cause: https://t.co/Mfde8nGk0V @EventbriteUK
— Ian Duhig (@ianduhig) November 22, 2020
Adopt a word for £20 from the @mini_stories Word Sale and help ensure a young writer can continue to write a brighter future for themselves - there's a category of words just for poets: ministry-of-stories.myshopify.com/collections/wo…
“The happy birds greedily take the sky” - thank you 10-year-old Fabio, and the inspirational @RumbleCoral who has been working for us in St Mary of the Angels Primary School twitter.com/rumblecoral/st…
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the privilege of working with children at St Mary and the Angels Primary, Westminster. I’ve promised Fabio (10yrs) that I’d tweet a poem he wrote for NPD. He’d love to have encouraging comments passed on to him! Real potential here. pic.twitter.com/7J4INgJx4j
— Coral Rumble (@RumbleCoral) November 26, 2020
“I must accept there is no freedom. Then I can decorate my prison forever.” Soumyaroop Majumdar explains the role of this quote by J Krishnamurti in the development of their poem ‘Alipore Zoo’ in Poetry Review in this Behind the Poem feature poetrysociety.org.uk/publications-s…
“It is forbidden to spit on cats in plague-time.” @EleanorHooker_ chose this quote from Camus’s La Peste (trans Stuart Gilbert) as epigram to her poem Traces, pub Poetry Review, as she explains in our ‘Behind the Poem’ feature poetrysociety.org.uk/publications-s…
His self & the sun were one & all his poems, although makings of his self, Were no less makings of the sun. It was not important that they survive. What mattered was that they should bear Some lineament of character, Some affluence, if only half perceived .. Wallace Stevens Retweeted by The Poetry Society
In praise of pamphlets! Michael Marks Award shortlists announced: the poets in contention are Paul Muldoon, Sarah Wimbush, Jamie McKendrick, Gail McConnell & Alycia Pirmohamed twitter.com/marksawards/st…
We are delighted to announce the 2020 Michael Marks Awards Shortlists, which are now live on our site. Congratulations to the poets and publishers! We also want to thank everyone who entered. We'll keep updating you before the winners are revealed Dec 14th https://t.co/nX7cL6Xexg
— The Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets (@MarksAwards) November 26, 2020
If you're curious about placesofpoetry.org.uk, the @UniofExeterNews project shortlisted for the 2020 #THEAwards, have a look at this short film. With thanks, as ever, to @ahrcpress @HeritageFundSW @PoetrySociety @OrdnanceSurvey & more. youtu.be/sHmJvr_O4Og via @YouTube Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Last week we received more #PoemsontheUnderground orders than we have done all year - which is amazing! We're still posting out those orders, so please be patient with us as shipping will take longer than usual. In the meantime, share your posters with #PoemsontheUnderground!
The @allontheboard @TfL staff have published a book today of their London Underground whiteboard words and wisdom. twitter.com/allontheboard/…
Rest in peace Diego Maradona. You will always be one of the greatest players of the beautiful game. @allontheboard #DiegoMaradona #RIPDiegoMaradona #Maradona pic.twitter.com/kqHfAPMLtp
— All On The Board (@allontheboard) November 25, 2020
Congratulations Linda McKenna, for Irish poem of the year. Great to see you shortlisted @joburnspoems @EleanorHooker_ & Catherine Ann Cullen. And @DoireannNiG in the non fiction category. twitter.com/AnPostIBAS/sta…
The WINNER of the @writersweek Poem of the Year is…
— An Post Irish Book Awards (@AnPostIBAS) November 25, 2020
In The Museum Of Misremembered Things by @mckennalinda! #APIBAS #ReadersWanted pic.twitter.com/u1CoBh24FI
irishbookawards.irish/listowel-write… Good luck, @joburnspoems Jo Burns, in tonight's Irish book awards for Poem of the Year! Also well done, to @tarryathome Catherine Anne, @EleanorHooker_ and @mckennalinda all super writers and great poems - great shortlist this year! Retweeted by The Poetry Society
If you're aged 25 or younger or you teach that age, get involved in this international project! Winners will receive mentoring, book tokens, publication, performance opportunities and more. Deadline 31 Jan (and it's free to enter!): bit.ly/HCAchallenge twitter.com/youngpoetsnet/…
How are poems like cells?
— Young Poets Network (@youngpoetsnet) November 25, 2020
We're so excited to launch a new challenge as part of the huge @humancellatlas project to map every cell in the human body. Young poets - we want you to respond to the language of biology, to win mentoring, book tokens and more: https://t.co/KVI4cPLg65 pic.twitter.com/0qEKNByLkj