Poetry workshop: Ten things you never knew you knew
As a former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, above, once said: “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.” The Write Out Loud poetry writing exercise for April is: Write a poem entitled “Ten things I ...
28th April 2013
Write Out Loud poets line up with famous names in Heart Shoots charity anthology
A number of contributors to Write Out Loud appear alongside famous poets and songwriters in the newly-published anthology, Heart Shoots, being sold in support of Macmillan, the cancer care charity. The work of Elaine Booth, Jacqueline Pemberton, Cathy Bryant, David Coldwell, and Write Out Loud te...
27th April 2013
A voyage around her grandfather: Cynthia Buell Thomas at Sale
In 10 years of running Write Out Loud I don’t think I have witnessed as magnificent a reading as that delivered by Cynthia Buell Thomas in her showcase slot at the Sale Write Out Loud last night.
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27th April 2013
Matthew Caley to judge £500 Essex poetry competition
Matthew Caley is the sole adjudicator for Essex poetry festival’s competition. First prize is £500, and the deadline is 31 July. Prizes will be handed out on 6 October at Essex poetry festival, and...
27th April 2013
Clare Pollard to judge South Bank Poetry competition
Clare Pollard will be judging the £200 South Bank Poetry magazine competition, for original, unpublished poems of up to 55 lines with a London focus. The entry fee is £3 per poem, and the deadline ...
27th April 2013
You judge: deadline nears for £2,000 Poetic Republic prize
The deadline is approaching for a poetry competition with a difference – where the entrants themselves are the judges of each other’s work. The Poetic Republic competition comes with a £2,000 singl...
27th April 2013
The Iron Lady's funeral blues poems
Well, she's gone. But the poetry lives on. I am sure many of you have written about the incredible feelings that her demise has generated, or the decision to hold a state funeral for her, or how ...
27th April 2013
Performance star Tony Walsh returns to Write Out Loud roots
One of the earliest members of Write Out Loud who has become a top performance poet is returning to his roots on Sunday, 28 April. Tony Walsh, aka Longfella, will be the guest poet at Write Out Lou...
27th April 2013
Counter-attack: poets with disabilities speak out at festival
Two poets with disabilities who read together at Cheltenham poetry festival on Monday night have linked up to run an online campaign against the firm used by the government to help determine whethe...
26th April 2013
The beat goes on: two Mersey poets reunited in Liverpool
Two veteran poets who appeared together with Adrian Henri in Penguin’s 1960s collection The Mersey Sound will be reunited in a joint appearance in Liverpool on 26 April. Roger McGough, pictured on ...
25th April 2013
Apologies for bad blog bugs
The bugs have been blatantly blacking-out blogs and occasionally curtailing comment. Mea maxima Culpepper, and all that. Our volunteer team are slaving away right now trying to get everything back ...
23rd April 2013
Beatlemania and Dylanology at poetry festival
It is no exaggeration to say that a minor outbreak of Beatlemania occurred on Sunday night in an upstairs room within the normally sedate confines of Cheltenham. Members of the older generation in...
23rd April 2013
More for Helen of Troy, Simon Mundy, Seren
An ancient world looms large in Simon Mundy’s collection, usually as a point of comparison with a (mostly) inferior modern world. In Radnor Songs II, “iron” in times past “meant victory”, not the...
21st April 2013
Walsh, Fox and Cookson at Prestwich book festival
Tony Walsh, pictured, Kate Fox and Paul Cookson will be providing some of the poetic highlights at Prestwich book festival in north Manchester, starting next month and running until the middle of J...
21st April 2013
Write Out Loud at Bolton tonight
Mike Neary is the guest poet at Write Out Bolton at the Brooklyn, Green Lane, Bolton on Sunday 21 April. Entry is £1 to this open mic event. Start time: 7.30pm for 8pm. Email Jeff Dawson on jeffinb...
21st April 2013
Write Out Loud at Marsden tonight
Write Out Loud Marsden meets at Marsden library, at the Mechanics Hall in Peel Street, on Wednesday 17 April, when poems are likely on the topical themes of the day. Entry is £2 to this open mic ev...
17th April 2013
Alabaster dePlume at launch of new Bolton poetry night
Performance poet and poet Alabaster dePlume is the headline act at the launch of a new live poetry night in Bolton tonight, Wednesday 17 April. Neo:live will be compered by Dominc Berry and include...
17th April 2013
Wordsworth's Ode to be read aloud at Thatcher's funeral
William Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood is to be read aloud at Margaret Thatcher’s ceremonial funeral at St Paul’s cathedral today. Wordsworth com...
17th April 2013
Cast your votes for best spoken word performer and night
A website that supports and reviews pamphlets, small presses, poetry magazines and performance poetry has announced a number of awards shortlists – and a voting deadline of 1 May. The Saboteur awar...
16th April 2013
Chilean poet Neruda's remains exhumed in murder inquiry
Tests are being carried out on the remains of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who died in 1973, after claims that he was poisoned by Chile’s then-ruler, General Pinochet.
Neruda, whose remains were ...
16th April 2013
Martin Daws is Young People's Laureate for Wales
Award-winning live performer and poet Martin Daws has been named as the new Young People’s Laureate for Wales. Forthcoming projects will include working with young people to create their own poetic...
16th April 2013
Write Out Loud at Sale tonight
Kieren King and Cynthia Buell Thomas are the guest poets at Write Out Loud Sale open mic at Waterside arts centre, Sale on Tuesday 16 April. It starts at 7.30pm, and entry is £3/£2. More details an...
16th April 2013
Deadline nears for £1,000 Larkin and East Riding poetry prize
The 15 April deadline is looming for the £1,000 Larkin and East Riding poetry prize, which wil be judged by Jackie Kay. Prizes will be presented to the wining poets at the Bridlington poetry festiv...
11th April 2013
Performance poet Kate Tempest takes Ted Hughes award
Performance poet Kate Tempest has won the Ted Hughes award for innovation in poetry for Brand New Ancients, an hour-long “spoken story” with orchestral backing. Tempest, 26, was said to have look...
11th April 2013
Write Out Loud regulars tackle National Poetry Month
It seems only a few days ago that it was World Poetry Day – and now we’re into April and National Poetry Writing Month is already well under way. NaPoWriMo, as it’s known, is an annual project in ...
11th April 2013
Write Out Loud at Wigan on Thursday
Expect another riotous night at the Tudor when Write Out Loud Wigan convenes there on Thursday 11 April. The open mic event starts at 8.30pm, and entry is free. More details and Map
10th April 2013
The best of Manchester: poetry heaven at the Eighth Day cafe
There are poets everywhere: poets on the chairs, poets on the tables, poets standing at the food counter, and poets all over the stairs like a carpet of energy. It's poet heaven, and I couldn't be ...
9th April 2013
Poems by heart help develop 'cultural ear', says Heaney
The Nobel prize winner Seamus Heaney has added his voice to those who argue that pupils should once more learn poetry by heart, saying that it would develop their “cultural ear” at an early age. Sp...
8th April 2013
Magazine editor wins National Poetry Competition
Patricia McCarthy has won the £5,000 National Poetry Competition with her poem, Clothes that escaped the Great War.
McCarthy edits the poetry magazine Agenda. The Guardian quoted her as saying ...
8th April 2013
Write Out Loud at Stockport tonight
Members of Stockport Write Out Loud meet at Stockport art gallery on Monday 8 April for their regular monthly get-together. Entry is a £1 donation, and it starts at 7pm. More details and Map
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8th April 2013
Sell-out success for Benjamin Zephaniah at Wenlock
Tickets for Benjamin Zephaniah on Sunday 7 April at Wenlock poetry festival in Shropshire have sold out, organisers say. But there is still a feast of other poetry to enjoy as well, including Luke ...
6th April 2013
