'A poor Cinderella ... plum in the middle': Simon Armitage welcomes spring and the National Trust's blossom campaign
The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a poem that welcomes spring, as well as marking World Poetry Day. ‘Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers’ conjures up a plum tree growing through a “cracked slab in a city square”, and is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom that have been commissioned by the National Trust. In his poem Armitage goes on to describe the little tree as a “a poor Cinderella / rootling abo...
News and Opinion
Is it now the world’s favourite poem? According to an article in the Guardian, a musical version of John Cooper Clarke’s ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by the Arc...
20th Mar 2023 12:00 am
An anti-slavery poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is at risk of leaving the UK unless a domestic buyer can be found, the Department for Culture,...
18th Mar 2023 12:00 am
The co-compere of Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox, and a regular reviewer for Write Out Loud, Carla Scarano D’Antonio, has died suddenly and une...
15th Mar 2023 11:17 pm
Primary schools in the UK have “limited poetry book stock” and there are “many barriers” to the teaching of poetry, with a majority of teachers feelin...
15th Mar 2023 8:44 am
The Poetry Society’s 2023 Foyle Young Poets of the year award has opened for entries. This year’s judges are Jonathan Edwards and Jane Yeh, and 2023 m...
6th Mar 2023 7:39 am
A new addition to the lively poetry scene on North Tyneside is being launched next month. Poet Dean Jolly will be compering an open-mic poetry night a...
23rd Mar 2023 8:41 am
Julia Webb will be judging the £600 Ver Poets competition. The deadline is 30 April. More details
6th Mar 2023 12:00 am
Wendy Klein will be judging the £300 South Downs poetry festival competition. The deadline is 15 April. More details
6th Mar 2023 12:00 am
Roger Robinson will be judging the 50th Bridport poetry competition prize. The deadline is 31 May 2023. More details
20th Mar 2023 7:51 am
Manchester-based performance poet Dominic Berry has twice been voted best spoken word artist in the Saboteur awards. The affirmative title Yes Life gi...
19th Mar 2023 10:39 pm
Oxford-based poet Paul Surman’s first collection, Places (Oversteps Books) was published in 2018. A further collection, Seasons of Damage and Beauty (...
10th Mar 2023 4:27 pm
This short collection by Joe Williams comes with an evocative cover image by Walker Scott. In a Lowryesque scene in a back street a hunched figure pas...
10th Mar 2023 12:00 am
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