We are delighted to announce the winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2018. From nearly 6,000 poets and 11,000 poems, the top 15 and 85 commended poets have now been selected and we can’t wait to celebrate them in the weeks, months and years to come. Judges Daljit Nagra and Caroline […]
Robin Robertson’s The Long Take (Picador), already a winner of the Roehampton Poetry Prize this year, is also on the shortlist of the Man Booker Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize. Described by John Banville as ‘A beautiful, vigorous and achingly melancholy hymn to the common man that is as unexpected as it is daring’, The […]
Terry Gifford has announced the longlist for the Wells Festival of Literature Poetry Competition, which includes Poetry Society Members galore! Included on the list are Robin Kidson (for two poems), Rosie Jackson (for two poems), Christopher North, Kerry Darbishire, Linda Saunders, Deborah Harvey, and Sharon Black – good luck to them all! Miriam Nash will […]
The Frogmore Poetry Prize for 2018 has been awarded to Emily Wills of Dursley, Gloucestershire for the poem ON THE SUBJECT OF FRACKING. She receives the sum of two hundred and fifty guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers. The first runner-up is Poetry Society Member Rosie Jackson of Frome, Somerset for the […]
National Poetry Day will see Poetry Society Member Jean Atkin become the first ever Troubadour of the Hills, thanks to the Ledbury Poetry Festival. The Festival, in conjunction with the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), have appointed Jean to the new position, and she will recite poems in that capacity for the […]
Congratulations to all the Poetry Society Members who did well in A Poem and a Pint Poetry Competition, judged by Clare Shaw. Carole Bromley was third for her poem ‘The Unpacking’. Carole was also Highly Commended for two poems ‘Medical Students’ and ‘Nobody Tells Me’. Joining Carole on the Highly Commended list were Society Members […]
CONGRATULATIONS! to Poetry Society Member Victoria Gatehouse, winner of the Otley Written Poetry Prize, and to all the other Poetry Society Members who did well in the competition, including Andy Humphrey (Highly Commended), Alicia Fernández and Jo Peters (both Commended), with Keith Bolton, Sam Burns (for two poems), Yvonne Green, Jenny Hamlet, Alison McNulty, and […]
The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press have announced the shortlist and longlist for Primers Volume Four, their mentoring and publication scheme. Judges Kim Moore and Jane Commane have selected ten manuscripts for the shortlist and 17 for the longlist – including many, many Poetry Society Members, highlighted below. Charlotte Baldwin for With my lips […]
The Poetry Society are getting ready to announce the winners of the 2018 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award and release their poems into the world very soon – but you can also catch some of the winners in a very special edition of BBC Radio 3’s The Verb, to be broadcast on National […]
Jon Stone has won the £1000 2018 Live Canon International Poetry Competition for his poem ‘The Lookout’ – congratulations to Jon! This year’s judge was Liz Berry and all 50 poems on the short- and long- lists will appear in the 2018 anthology. Poetry Society Members on the shortlist include Emma Simon (for two poems), […]
Sydenham Arts’ second annual competition, ‘We Could Be Heroes’ in partnership with Alarms & Excursions and Kirkdale Bookshop has been won by Poetry Society member Doreen Hinchliffe for her poem ‘Mr. Williams’. Fellow Members Philip Burton and Mantz Yorke were second and third for ‘The Longest Wait’ and ‘Tommy at Seventy’. Doreen also bagged a […]
Poetry Society Members David Keyworth, Maria Isakova-Bennett and Scott Elder have been Highly Commended by judge Graham Burchell in this year’s Buzzwords Poetry Competition, won by Katie Hale. Graham’s report: What a strange and dizzy world one is thrown into when reading very many poems one after the other until there are three piles of […]
Poetry Society Member Jane Lovell has won the 2018 Wigtown Poetry Competition for her poem ‘Starlings’, judged by Christine De Luca. Fellow Member Owen Lewis is Runner-up for ‘As if it didn’t matter which way was home’. Congratulations to both! This year’s Wigtown Poetry Competition received 735 entries. In addition to poets from Scotland and […]
Good news from the Waltraud Field Open Poetry Competition. Poetry Society Stanza rep Angela Topping is the winner and fellow Member Anthony Watts is third. John Baylis Post was second. The competition is run by Crewe and District Writers’ Circle, formed when a group of students, who had completed a writing course, decided to keep […]
Poetry Society Member Lisa Matthews has won this year’s Welshpool Poetry Festival competition judged by Andrew McMillan, with fellow Members Catherine Whittaker and Pippa Little in second and third places. The theme was ‘jewel’. Andrew McMillan: “The standard of work was very high, and in many ways the process of sifting through them was like […]
The 2018 Winchester Poetry Prize longlist, chosen by Liz Berry, includes Poetry Society Members Isabel Bermudez, Alan Buckley, Sue Chamberlain, Harriet David, Hugh Dunkerley, Alan Dunnett, Inua Ellams (for TWO poems), Niall Firth, Clifford Forde, Rosie Jackson, Stephen Keeler, Joanne Key, Ruth McIlroy, Paul McMahon, Margot Myers, Katrina Porteous, Mara Adamitz Scrupe and Ellora Sutton. […]
The Poetry Society has teamed up with Paperblanks, who have four poet-themed notebooks to give away from their manuscript collection series, perfect tomes to inspire your creativity. The featured poets are William Wordsworth, Edgar Allen Poe, William Butler Yeats, and Rabindranath Tagore. To win one of these excellent notebooks, please email [email protected] with the heading […]
Enter the Chelsey Minnis imagery quiz and win a free ticket to see Chelsey Minnis at the Free Verse Fair on the 22nd September 2018 at Senate House, London plus receive a limited edition Chelsey Minnis print and a copy of her brand new book Baby I Don’t Care (Wave Books, 2018). What do you have […]
In advance of this Saturday’s Free Verse Fair at the Senate House, University of London, we had a quick chat with Rishi Dastidar – Nine Arches published poet, chair of Spread the Word, consulting editor for The Rialto – who is running a workshop at the fair for poets on how to get noticed in […]
In 2017 The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network partnered with the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to challenge young poets to respond to the changing face of our polar regions. The winning poem and eight runners-up are presented in a new anthology, now available to read online below. Readers in London will also be able […]
Click on your calendar and pencil your diaries: we’re filling the Free Verse day with readings. The Free Verse Poetry Book and Magazine Fair features a full day of dip-in-and-out poetry readings, where publishers introduce their poets and philosophies to you. All readings are free. 11.20am Foyle Young Poets 11.40am ignitionpress (Lily Blacksell, Mary Jean […]
We are sad to report that Poetry Society Member Julian Flanagan passed away in August. Julian was such a lovely man and a regular at the [email protected] open mic sessions at The Poetry Society’s Poetry Cafe. He was also a member of the Barnes & Chiswick Stanza. “The last email I received from Julian was […]
The winners of the BBC Proms Poetry Competition 2018, for poems written in response to a piece of music in the 2018 Proms season, have been announced. This year’s competition was judged by poet and presenter of The Verb on BBC Radio 3 Ian McMillan, poet and Foyle Young Poet Helen Mort and the Director […]
The Poetry Society, partnering with national pet charity Blue Cross, are pleased to announce Russell Jones as the first ever Pet Poet Laureate, a role that will see him pen a series of poems throughout the year of his tenure, all about pets and the wonderful influence and impact they have on people’s lives. The position of Pet […]
Following June’s first young writers’ reading, on 21 August 2018 The Poetry Café hosted its second Young Poets Takeover. Seven poets aged 14 to 20 performed: Lucy Tiller, Nadia Lines, Meredith LeMaître, Foyre Jalloh, Cia Mangat, Damayanti Chatterjee and Judith Howe. All seven were Foyle Young Poets, SLAMbassadors or Young Poets Network challenge winners and their writing and performing […]
“I have so many anecdotes and stories [about] how d/Deaf people are excluded from cultural events and how much harder they/we/I have had to work to access culture. I am trying to write into those disconnections and create new bridges,” says Raymond Antrobus, the latest interviewee in of The Poetry Review podcast series with editor […]
The 2018 National Poetry Competition is currently open, and judges Kei Miller, Kim Moore and Mark Waldron will read all submitted entries – so as you put the finishing touches on your entry, it’s your chance to hear their thoughts on all things poetic. Previous #AskTheJudge interviews have seen the judges answer questions on the […]
Earlier this year The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network partnered with Oxfam and End Hunger UK to challenge poets aged 11-25 across the UK to respond to the issue of food poverty. We are delighted to publish an anthology of the nine winning poems. Read them below, and see our Issuu page for more anthologies […]
Give a sculptor a block of marble and a chisel, and they’ll carve you a masterpiece. Put The Poetry Society and The British Museum together, and you end up with three brilliant new poems, jointly commissioned to celebrate the recent exhibition Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece. Inspired by both Rodin’s sculptures and those […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tributes have been paid to Matthew Sweeney, who has died from motor neurone 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 […]
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: […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Poets. I’m one of the judges for the London Library emerging writers program. If you’ve yet to publish a full collection you’re eligible. Do consider applying Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Listen to the Poets v Homelessness issue of A Poem A Week Podcast produced by Lizzy Turner (@apoemaweek): Shelly Harder reads their poem Zero Dawn. soundcloud.com/apoemaweek/ep5… You can see both Shelly and Lizzy performing at @PoetrySociety on 7 March 7.30pm. #Podcast #Poetry #Art Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Now THIS is an exciting preview. Privileged to be performing alongside @ShellyHarder and a range of other excellent poets as part of '@PoetsVersus Homelessness' at the @PoetrySociety on 7 March - hear them read now, come to the show and buy the anthology from @TonicStaPress twitter.com/apoemaweek/sta… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
31 days to go until the 40th anniversary event for the National Poetry Competition Read the @ForwardPrizes winning poem by poet @MissLizBerry bit.ly/NPC40BerryMoth… 20th March, Kings Place bit.ly/npc40anniversa…
And those lovely folk @poetrycandle have asked me to read from TEN POEMS FOR BREAKFAST @PoetrySociety Brunch launch Sat 11.00 Covent Gdn. Retweeted by The Poetry Society
This was a fascinating, complicated, enlightening & ultimately uplifting piece to write. Poetry has always been at literature's leading edge, formally & expressively; so it goes online & in the C21 too>> Generation next:the rise– and rise– of the new poets theguardian.com/books/2019/feb… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
“Some people go to priests; others to poetry” —Virginia Woolf Retweeted by The Poetry Society
I’ll be back at the Cafe in April. Book a slot and send me your poems #writing #feedback twitter.com/PoetrySociety/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
1-1 feedback on your poems @PoetrySociety Poetry Cafe London with @gosspoems Rebecca Goss - Booking now for FRIDAY 26 Aprilhttps://t.co/vRIp1RBSqq pic.twitter.com/6aNkB4BVO8
— The Poetry Society (@PoetrySociety) February 15, 2019
Generation next: the rise – and rise – of the new poets theguardian.com/books/2019/feb…
32 days to go until the 40th anniversary event for the National Poetry Competition Read a new poem by poet Geraldine Clarkson @GBClarkson from the latest Poetry @PoetryFound bit.ly/NPC40Clarksonp… 20th March, Kings Place bit.ly/npc40anniversa…
Sadly, Keats-Shelley House missed both Valentine's Day and John Keats' victory in @PoetrySociety #classiclovepoemcup. That tricky work-Twitter balance. To compensate, here is Robert '39 Steps' Donat reading Bright Star. Silky smooth. bit.ly/2SSlulP Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Delighted to announce our new Snow Poem Competition! Fabulous @CaroleBromley1 is editing Ten Poems about Snow for us and we’re looking for two brand new poems to include in her selection. Deadline 3rd June, free entry, one poem per poet only candlestickpress.co.uk/wp-content/upl… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
33 days to go until the 40th anniversary event for the National Poetry Competition "I once read most of a book about trout by a man who really revered trout." Read a Q & A with poet Stephen Sexton bit.ly/NPC40SextonQA 20th March, Kings Place bit.ly/npc40anniversa…
1-1 feedback on your poems @PoetrySociety Poetry Cafe London with @gosspoems Rebecca Goss - Booking now for FRIDAY 26 April poetrysociety.org.uk/event/gossapri…
We're proud to support the invaluable work of the Prison Reform Trust with our short collection of poems, generously donated by prison survivors. If you're able to grab a copy or support this, it would be really appreciated. amzn.to/2SUhrFE @PoetrySociety @Poetry_Daily Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Our biggest fans this week: @PoetrySociety, @FestivalofIdeas, @poetrybusiness. Thank you! via sumall.com/thankyou?utm_s… Retweeted by The Poetry Society
Since 'Mad Girl's Love Song' was in @PoetrySociety's #classiclovepoemcup I've had constant Villanelle earworms and tbh I'm not hating it Retweeted by The Poetry Society
@PoetrySociety ee pipped at the post - but 'I carry your heart' is still a damn fine poem > vimeo.com/62305015 #ClassicLovePoemCup Retweeted by The Poetry Society