Members' AreaThe autumn issue of The Poetry Review is now on its way to readers worldwide. The print edition of the latest issue, with artist Kate Dehler’s thoughtful poetry hound in the big chair on the cover, is in the mail, but while readers await that reassuring thump on their doormats, they can visit the issue […]
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Come and work with us!
Come and work for The Poetry Society, and combine your energies and ideas with ours! We’re expanding our staff team and have vacancies for a new Head of Operations and an Education Officer. If you have a passion to inspire the creativity of the next generation of young poets, our Education Team would like to […]
“a little creature you’re trying to embody”: National Poetry Competition 2021 judges talk in a new podcast
The 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 […]
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 […]
Young poets translate Isthmus Zapotec poet Irma Pineda
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the winners of the third annual Young Poets Network poetry translation challenge, in partnership with Modern Poetry in Translation. This challenge asked young people aged 25 and younger worldwide to co-translate ‘Lu Neza VII’ by Irma Pineda, using notes and a ‘bridge’ version in English from her translator […]
Mary Ruefle podcast: swimming, paper clips and poetry phenomena
The celebrated American poet Mary Ruefle is the subject of the latest edition in The Poetry Review podcast series. In their funny and thought-provoking conversation by telephone, Mary Ruefle and Review editor Emily Berry discuss starting poems and first lines; working to commission and no longer facing the blank page; writing letters, writing prose, humour […]
International Literacy Day 2021
Today is International Literacy Day, set up by UNESCO in 1966, 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 2021 focuses on “Literacy for a human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide”, during […]
Sealey finale
The fifth Sealey Challenge today comes to an end, though as the Sealey Challenge Twitter account today says “As you finish your last book of the month, remember that poetry can be a part of your life all year long. Don’t stop reading!” Set up by Nicole Sealey, the challenge is an invitation to read […]
Jenny Mitchell wins Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition
Congratulations to Poetry Society member Jenny Mitchell whose poem ‘Sister’ has won first prize in the Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2021. Judge Kim Moore selected the winning poem from a multitude of entries. Jenny is a practiced poetry prize winner, and you can enjoy her collections Her Lost Language and Map of a Plantation […]
Then & Now digital readings return for National Poetry Competition 2021
With two months until the National Poetry Competition 2021 closes, The Poetry Society is releasing a series of video readings over the August bank holiday weekend as part of a series called ‘Then & Now’. In each short video, a poet who has previously been placed in the competition reads their National Poetry Competition winning […]
Gone word-fishing in Sheffield
They’re washing down the towpath walls in Sheffield, ready for the installation of a newly commissioned poem. Poet Warda Yassin has created a crowd-sourced piece exploring the people and history of the Sheffield to Tinsley Canal as part of the Waterlines collaboration between The Poetry Society and the Canal & River Trust. Over the summer, […]
“Remarkable, brave, funny, and a force” – warm tributes to Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
Warm tributes have been paid to Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze who died in Jamaica on 4 August, after a long illness. Jean’s many friends and colleagues took to social media to share stories and memories. “We are incredibly saddened to announce that our dear friend Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze MBE – poet, artist, theatre director, choreographer, actor […]
Erasure Poetry Challenge Winners Announced
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the winners of the Young Poets Network Erasure Poetry Challenge, which was set and judged by poets Karen McCarthy Woolf and Julia Bird. This challenge asked young people aged 25 and younger worldwide to create erasure poems from any source text of their choosing, with a focus on […]
Take the Sealey Challenge to read a poetry book a day
This August marks the fifth anniversary of The Sealey Challenge, set up by Nicole Sealey, to read a poetry book (or pamphlet) every day for the whole month. To support the challenge and encourage wider reading of poetry, The Poetry Society has asked poets, including contributors to The Poetry Review, to recommend texts for people […]
“speaking back to history”: TIDEfest weekend 31 July/1 Aug 2021
The Poetry Society has collaborated with Oxford University to create new film poems which will be premiered at TIDEfest, a free online cultural festival being held on the weekend of 31 July and 1 August. TIDEfest is run by the TIDE (Travel, Transculturality and Identity in England, 1550–1700) project. Over the course of the festival […]
“outlandish elements”: a new National Poetry Competition writing resource from Joe Dunthorne
The National Poetry Competition 2021 is in full swing, and the entries are starting to stack up. As the competition progresses, The Poetry Society is commissioning writing guides from prize winners about poems that have been placed in the competition in past years. The latest of these is by Joe Dunthorne, who was commended in […]
“Language does the work if you let it” – look, listen and enliven your Poetry Review reading
The Poetry Society is releasing new extra digital content in July to enliven and extend The Poetry Review reading experience. In the latest Poetry Review podcast, Gail McConnell talks to Emily Berry about loss, parenthood and the resource of language in her debut collection The Sun is Open (Penned in the Margins). Published this September, the […]
Michael Horovitz’s final New Departure
Enlightenment is sometimes breathing the street lamp out at dawn and reading between the branches a map of sky space – pure light From the sequence ‘Light Motifs’ by Michael Horovitz. (“Sequence of themes for chanting & possible counterpoint with music or birdsong or other sounds; several voices could repeat ‘light’ & other phrases in […]
Poeming in the rain: Paul Muldoon goes behind the poem
“I sometimes find it hard to remember exactly where a poem began. In this case, I’m pretty sure it was with my simply extending a hand to check for rain.” To accompany the new Summer 2021 issue of The Poetry Review, celebrated Irish poet Paul Muldoon is the latest to delve ‘Behind the Poem’ in […]
Dean Browne and Jane Wilkinson win the Geoffrey Dearmer and Hamish Canham Prizes
Congratulations to Dean Browne and Jane Wilkinson, who have won The Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer and Hamish Canham Prizes respectively. The Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, awarded annually and judged in 2020 by Patricia Smith, is for the best poem published in The Poetry Review by a poet who has yet to publish a full collection. The […]
The Poetry Review: sounding out summer
Look out for the summer issue of The Poetry Review, now its way to readers worldwide. To sample some highlights online ahead of the print edition dropping through your door, visit the issue webpage, which features new poems by Mary Ruefle, Paul Muldoon, Maya Caspari, Luke Allan and Amaan Hyder. Terrance Hayes’s brilliant Poetry Society […]
Radio 3’s The Verb calls for words for extraordinary times
Since September 2020 ‘The Verb’, BBC Radio 3’s poetry, language and performance programme, has been asking how writers might respond ‘to’ and ‘for’ these extraordinary times. In the autumn, the show’s presenter Ian McMillan will launch The Verb’s Writing Manifesto, incorporating some of the ideas that have been discussed across a year of broadcasts. For […]
The book in hand
To mark Independent Bookshop Week (19-26 June), The Poetry Society spoke to two booksellers at leading independent bookshops – Kate Claughan of Book Corner, Halifax, and Ross Bradshaw of Five Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham – about poetry, sales and their hopes going forwards. While the Covid-19 pandemic has posed the retail sector with major challenges, bookshops […]
Winners of Young Poets Network 10th anniversary challenge announced
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the winners of Young Poets Network’s 10th anniversary writing challenge. Marking ten years of The Poetry Society’s online platform for poets aged 25 and younger around the world, the challenge invited young writers to respond to any of the 136 writing challenges or 253 features published in the […]
A tribute to Clare Crossman
The Poetry Society was very sad to hear of the recent death of the poet and former Stanza representative for South Cambridgeshire Clare McPhee, who wrote under her maiden name, Clare Crossman. Iain McPhee writes: Clare died peacefully on Wednesday 7 April. She was born in Kent, moving to Cumbria with her family at age […]
“Oh sing to me a healing song”: The Poetry Review & Poetry News Summer 2021 preview
Launching later in June… the summer 2021 issue of The Poetry Review, which includes: first publication of Terrance Hayes’s vivid exploration of the work and influence of Gwendolyn Brooks – the second in The Poetry Society Annual Lecture Series in association with the University of Liverpool; new poems by Mary Ruefle, Richard Scott, Paul Muldoon, […]
“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 […]
In memoriam: Jenny Grant and Graham Burchell
The Poetry Society was saddened to hear of the recent deaths of two active and esteemed members, Jenny Grant and Graham Burchell, and sends condolences to family and friends. Mary L. Walsh of Barking Foxes said, “Jenny Grant was a poet and artist, and a ferocious knitter. She spent her entire life writing poetry and […]
Arlo Parks and Ben Bailey Smith announced as Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2021 Patrons
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce that Arlo Parks and Ben Bailey Smith are the patrons for this year’s Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. Arlo is a musician and poet, whose debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams reached number three on the UK albums chart. In […]
A new shelfie for Pride
June is Pride Month, marking the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969. Following the popular LGBT+ History Month shelfie of recommendations of queer writers from throughout history, The Poetry Society is pleased to share a new shelfie with five recent books by LGBT+ poets to celebrate Pride. Find the recommendations here. […]
Poetry Society at the 2021 Belfast Book Festival
Judith Palmer, director of The Poetry Society will feature on the panel at the opening event of the 2021 Belfast Book Festival. The event, to be held at 4pm on Thursday 10 June, will be an online poetry panel discussion, addressing issues affecting poets and the spoken word community. The ‘Poetry in Focus’ panel discussion […]
‘Enclosed little worlds’: a new National Poetry Competition writing resource from Paula Bohince
As entries to the National Poetry Competition 2021 begin to come in, The Poetry Society is commissioning writing guides from prize winners about poems that have been placed in the competition in past years. These guides are free resources to help poets in their own creative practice, whether or not they are planning on entering […]
“Looking for poems which tilt the world”: the National Poetry Competition 2021 is now launched
Fiona Benson, David Constantine and Rachel Long are the judges of the National Poetry Competition 2021, which is now open for entries The National Poetry Competition, run by The Poetry Society, is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for a single unpublished poem. The three judges this year are outstanding and award-winning writers. Fiona […]
Looking for a little release… latest Poetry Mixtapes out now
Once upon a time, there was no city. There were only dreams, gardens, a flower market. And you still ask me, why do I like it so much? – from ‘Bus routes of childhood’ by Amlanjyoti Goswami Swigging from the bottle we would sing soft hymns about this quick shot […]
Winners of Keatsian challenge on Young Poets Network published
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the winners of ‘The Weariness, the Fever and the Fret’: Writing Illness, Health and John Keats, a writing challenge on The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network as part of its Keats200 celebrations. The challenge was set by Amy Mackelden earlier this year. Inspired by John Keats’s training as […]
Ledbury Poetry Critics 2021 announced
Ledbury Poetry Critics have announced the new cohort of nineteen 2021 Ledbury critics, which includes Poetry Society Members April Yee, Hasti, Niroshini Somasundaram and Shash Trevett, as well as Foyle Young Poets and Young Poets Network challenge winners Annie Fan, Gazelle Mba, Isabelle Baafi, Maggie Wang and The Poetry Society’s Education Coordinator Helen Bowell. Ledbury […]
BLAKE NOW: new poems inspired by William Blake
A fine Christopher Wren church in London’s West End, St James’s Piccadilly is where the visionary poet and artist William Blake was baptised in 1757. The church, in partnership with The Poetry Society, asked Sophie Herxheimer, Joseph Coelho, Ankita Saxena, Ruth Awolola and Natalie Linh Bolderston to reflect on Blake and his relevance now, and […]
Behind the Poem: mines, fires underground and mythic homes
The Poetry Society has released new essays by Paula Bohince and Tarn MacArthur, the latest in the online Behind the Poem series in which poets reflect on the inspiration and development of one or more of their poems in The Poetry Review. Paula Bohince explains how her poem, ‘The Skunk’, published in the spring 2021 […]
Human Cell Atlas challenge winners are announced
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce the winners of the Human Cell Atlas challenge, run on The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network with Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts, as part of a project called One Cell at a Time. One Cell at a Time explores the areas where art and science meet and […]
Don't miss the unmissable launch of the new autumn #PoetryReview issue ed. @no1_emily on Zoom 13 Oct 7pm BST featuring fabulous four Rachael Allen @r_vallen, Sheri Benning, @saralaestruch & Shane McCrae @akasomeguy bit.ly/reviewaut21lau…
Congratulations to all the poets awarded our Winter Selections Vahni Capildeo, Polly Atkin, Harry Josephine Giles, Lila Matsumoto, Stephanie Sy-Quia, Ian Duhig, Tua Forsström and in memory of Owen Lowery. The days may be darkening but there are so many great poetry books to come! Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Great article @TheFridayPoem on five poets who have won the #NationalPoetryCompetition without a poetry track record. Could one of your poems win? The comp is open to all poets worldwide at bit.ly/2021npc twitter.com/TheFridayPoem/…
Entries to the National Poetry Competition close on 31st October. But is it worth entering if you’re not an established poet? You bet it is! The Friday Poem spoke to five previously unpublished poets who claimed the prize https://t.co/UjZkcN7Pot #TheFridayPoem @PoetrySociety pic.twitter.com/NsTgkC76DZ
— The Friday Poem (@TheFridayPoem) September 24, 2021
“Can there be an Arabic prose poem?” is a specific instantiation of the more universal question “Can there be a prose poem?” In Arabic the question takes on added urgency because it threatens to transform the long-standing definition of Arabic poetry. More j.mp/3AJsBQ8 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Poems of Sisterhood and Solidarity A curated evening of poetry, dance and film hosted by @ForwardPrizes-winner @arshi_mona, curated by @rachelnalong, founder of Octavia, the poetry collective for women of colour #EnglishPEN100 📅 25 September (5pm) 🔗 bit.ly/3lIEPCl Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Only TWO WEEKS left until National Poetry Day #NationalPoetryDay 🙈 - mailchi.mp/forwardartsfou… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
At #ContainsStrongLanguage spoken word fest in @Coventry2021 over the next 4 days: Live @BBCSounds shows with @Cerysmatthews & @StuartMaconie on @bbc6music; The Verb & Music Matters on @BBCRadio3. First up, @BBCFrontRow tonight at 7.15pm on @BBCRadio4. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Join us next Tuesday 28th at 7pm (BST) on Instagram Live (@poetrybooksociety) for PBS Book Club with Hannah Lowe and Jack Underwood hosted by Anthony Anaxagorou! Retweeted by The Poetry Society
twitter.com/intent/tweet?t… Come join @reddoorpoets on Sunday 26th at 6, on zoom for our stellar line up: Gillie Robic, @lesleyksharpe @MaryMulhol, @JaneBurn11, @gail_mcconnell_, @rmcfarlane63 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Starting from today at 7 pm CEST we're posting a series of readings from this year's Keats-Shelley and Young Romantics Prizes on our YouTube Channel: bit.ly/3nZtlxl Poems have been read by our wonderful actors Polly Edsell, Fred Fergus, Harry Lloyd Yorke, and Tom Palmer. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Join us to celebrate the launch of Poems and Satires by Edna St Vincent Millay, newly published as a Carcanet Classic edited by @TATFS on October 6th! Tristram will discuss the poems with Abigail Parry. Register for £2 tickets: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Today is the day we have all been waiting for, #ContainsStrongLanguage 2021 has arrived! Check out what's in store by heading here 👉coventry2021.co.uk/what-s-on/bbc-… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Joining us this afternoon at #ContainsStrongLanguage we have @ProfDavidMorley and @WKWT hosting a wildlife inspired poetry workshop. We also have @TherealNihal as he presents @bbc5live from the Belgrade Theatre. Find out more about the events here 👉coventry2021.co.uk/what-s-on/bbc-… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Flex your poetry muscles tonight at 6:30pm with @LauraWOK in the Oak Tent. | Part of #ArtandSoul21 Using poetry, pop songs & post-it notes we’ll explore female identity, the labels we are given and the stories we choose to tell about ourselves applecartarts.com/in_the_theatre… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Together with @asiancha we can’t wait to hear the poetry of Hong Kong, join the conversation on 24 Sep 1pm UK time to find out 'How does poetry reflect or (re)define ‘place’ in a cosmopolitan Hong Kong where East meets West? Who and what is local? What makes the city unique?' Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Get students involved with our #Fed150PoetryCompetition! ✍ For the chance to win a £50 voucher, get your poem published & have a poet visit your place of learning, follow the instructions on the site…bit.ly/39evix3 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
30 Sept 4pm is the final date for Forward/emagazine Creative Critics Competition. Please tell students to apply. It's an amazing chance to read & write poetry & winning would be a big deal in all kinds of ways (incl a cash prize)! @ForwardPrizes englishandmedia.co.uk/competitions/f… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Trowbridge @PoetrySociety Stanza isn't meeting at the moment. All of our newsletters can be read in this archive. We hope to reconvene before too long. tinyletter.com/JosephineCorco… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Calling everyone who teaches, studies, or organises creative writing in education! The call for proposals for NAWE Conference 2022, Renewal & Resilience: Creative Writing in Education and Communities in 2022 and Beyond, is now open. Info bit.ly/3jUepxN D/L 1 Nov 2021 Retweeted by The Poetry Society
"I love reading collections of letters. I devour them. It's my favourite form of literature. [...] I love writing letters. I type them on a typewriter." Listen to @no1_emily speaking to US poet and essayist Mary Ruefle in the latest #PoetryReviewPodcast. bit.ly/podcastruefleb…
![test Twitter Media - "I love reading collections of letters. I devour them. It's my favourite form of literature. [...] I love writing letters. I type them on a typewriter."
Listen to @no1_emily speaking to US poet and essayist Mary Ruefle in the latest #PoetryReviewPodcast. https://t.co/bGmUdhzEZg https://t.co/vxDnWowqKg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_5LjwgVQBgSQZv.jpg)