Martin Figura to judge new award for older poets
A new poetry award has been launched, for first collections by poets over the age of 40. The initiative has come from Judi Sutherland of The Stare’s Nest poetry website, who says of the Fledgling award, covering full collections and pamphlets: “Don’t you hate it that the young get all the chances? That there are so many poetry awards for people under 18, under 25, under 30? What if you spent the f...
31st March 2016
Roll up to pay tributes to the Bard at open mic night's swansong
Poets, singers and Shakespeare enthusiasts are invited to come and perform their own work, read some of the Bard's sonnets or extracts from his plays, sing Shakespeare's words set to music or just enjoy listening to others, when Worcestershire’s poet laureate, Heather Wastie, teams up with poet Sara...
31st March 2016
Literature festival aims to connect with writers at risk across the world
Poets will be to the fore when they come together with novelists, playwrights and artists to celebrate English PEN’s Writers at Risk programme and the individuals it supports at the organisation’s fir...
30th March 2016
The power of words: audiences flock to literary festivals and book fairs in India and Pakistan
A writer who is appearing at Wenlock poetry festival next month has spoken of her experiences at literary festivals in India and Pakistan, where audiences can number into hundreds of thousands.
Mar...
30th March 2016
Catherine Smith to judge Frogmore Papers prize
Catherine Smith will be judging the Frogmore poetry prize, sponsored by the Frogmore Press poetry magazine. The winner receives 250 guineas. The deadline is 31 May. More details
29th March 2016
Poetry posties wanted in West Midlands to mark Shakespeare anniversary
Fancy being a poetry postie? Arts organisation Writing West Midlands is looking for volunteers to help celebrate Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death next month. In an initiative with BBC...
26th March 2016
Write Out Loud open mic sessions linked to exhibition at Stockport art gallery
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport will be staging two open mic poetry readings at Stockport art gallery on Saturday 26 March and Saturday 9 April between 3.30pm to 4.30pm, with themes loosely based ...
25th March 2016
Syrian poet opposed to president is killed by Islamic State extremists
A Syrian poet and his son have been killed by the extremist group calling itself Islamic State (IS), the writers pressure group Pen International has reported. According to media reports, Mohammad Bas...
24th March 2016
'Perhaps she came down for the apples'
Philip Terman is a Pennsylvania poet who, with his family, lives in a former one-room schoolhouse. And whenever there's a one-room schoolhouse you can count on just a little wilderness around it. This...
24th March 2016
Travelling, then arriving: bookshop reading celebrates different paths to poetry
A poetic journey that began in the streets of Lambeth on a sun-soaked Halloween day last autumn ended in a travel bookshop on Friday night, when poets who had taken part in a series of workshops read ...
23rd March 2016
Poetry by gaslight: the fire burns bright with Bradford's Beehive Poets
There’s a real warmth at the Beehive Poets in Bradford – and it’s not just from the open fire that gently toasted my behind as I was reading there. The weekly poetry night, a mix of readarounds, reada...
22nd March 2016
A coffee for a poem on World Poetry Day as offer spreads around the globe
Monday 21 March is World Poetry Day, launched by Unesco in 1999 with the aim of promoting the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world, and to "give fresh recognition a...
20th March 2016
The Cycle of the Scarecrow: Ian Whiteley, Currock Press
The Cycle of the Scarecrow is Ian Whiteley’s second collection of poems. Born in Wakefield and now living in Wigan, and firmly grounded in the north of England, he explores the back streets of histor...
20th March 2016
Surprise release of pardoned Qatari poet after four years in jail
Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami has been pardoned and released after more than four years in prison, English PEN has announced. Cat Lucas of English PEN said: “We are delighted by the unexpected news th...
20th March 2016
Magazine editor's warning on popular poetry subjects
What are the most popular subjects that poets write about? The editor of a long-running literary magazine has advised poets seeking publication: “If you choose to write about birds, photographs, pictu...
19th March 2016
Applause or the sound of silence - should you clap between poems?
At a poetry reading, do you prefer to applaud each poem – or to wait in respectful silence until the poet has completed the reading? To put it another way, are you a whooper and hollerer – or a polite...
18th March 2016
Lucky: Graham Buchan, Lapwing Press
As generations of pogrom, Holocaust, and genocide survivors pass away, the message of “never again” trickles away, and humankind seems determined to repeat its mistakes with some gusto. We have an ac...
18th March 2016
Rescued animals, witches, a hidden king: poet tells of rural life then and now
A poet who escaped to the country to become a novice smallholder in an ancient farmhouse, and to populate it with 150 animals, most of them rescued, is launching her first full collection later this m...
17th March 2016
Write Out Loud at Marsden library tonight
David Lindsay, Write Out Loud’s gig guide editor, and host of Cleckheaton’s Talking Zebras, is the guest host at Write Out Loud Marsden on Wednesday 16 March, as regular host Julian Jordon departs on ...
16th March 2016
'Every spring my mother says I should buy a straw hat'
In my limited experience, mothering and worrying go hand in hand. Here's a mother's worry poem by Richard Jarrette, from his fine book, A Hundred Million Years of Nectar Dances. He lives in California...
16th March 2016
Through a glass, darkly: Winston Plowes finds poetry in an emptied pint of beer
When you gaze down at the dregs of your coffee cup, or beer glass, what do you see? Experimental poet Winston Plowes finds poetry there. His new collection, Telephones, Love Hearts and Jellyfish: Poèm...
15th March 2016
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Write Out Loud Stockport meets at Stockport art gallery on Monday 14 March for another open-floor poetry night beginning at 7pm. Entry is a £1 suggested donation. Each month members produce a collage ...
14th March 2016
Loyal following for the Monkeys helps keep the flag flying in Surrey
The well-heeled county of Surrey is, it has to be said, somewhat of a desert for open mic poetry. But there is at least one place where the flag still defiantly flutters. The 1000 Monkeys, run by Jani...
12th March 2016
Ted Hughes award shortlist revealed
Poems inspired by Sudan artefacts; a collaborative journey in the footsteps of Japanese poet Basho; poetry exploring pottery and the potter’s craft; a collaborative radio poem about home; and an Engli...
11th March 2016
Welsh-language poet Ifor ap Glyn is next national poet of Wales
Ifor ap Glyn, a poet who has published five collections in Welsh, has been appointed as the new national poet of Wales. He will take over in May from Gillian Clarke, who has held the position since 20...
10th March 2016
Write Out Loud at the Old Courts in Wigan tonight
Write Out Loud Wigan meets in all its open mic glory as the Old Courts, Crawford Street, Wigan, on Thursday10 March at 8.30pm. Entry is free. More details and Map
10th March 2016
Online journal launched as 'crazy adventure and for the love of poetry'
A new online poetry journal was launched this week. The High Window is a quarterly co-edited by David Cooke, who regularly posts his poems on Write Out Loud, and fellow poet Anthony Costello, co-host ...
10th March 2016
Otley names Matthew Hedley Stoppard as its town poet
Matthew Hedley Stoppard has been named as town poet for Otley in West Yorkshire, a role that has been created to link with the town’s Courthouse Words writing festival.
His debut collection of poet...
9th March 2016
Carol Ann Duffy plans readings tour in support of independent bookshops
The poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, is to give readings in support of independent bookshops across Britain later this year to support the 10th anniversary of Independent Bookshop Week, the Bookseller ...
9th March 2016
Entry free for £200 poetry competition on politics
Publishers Holland Park Press have launched a £200 poetry and politics competition, and are looking for poetry on “any aspect of politics. Your poem can be about international politics or instead be a...
7th March 2016
'I am Mercury, bearing news, my wings a single-speed bike'
I suppose some of the newspapers which carry this column still employ young people to deliver the news, but carriers are now mostly adults. I had two paper routes when I was a boy and was pleased to f...
7th March 2016
Drop in and speak out at the P Cafe at Stirchley in Birmingham
The growth in the number of poetry and spoken word evenings means that ever more pubs and venues are setting nights aside for poetry, but a cafe that specifically sets out to support and promote poetr...
3rd March 2016
Poets invite families for creative sessions in London libraries
Poets including Aoife Mannix, Paul Lyalls, Francesca Beard, Guy Bass, Joe Coelho and Frances Hardinge will be taking part in Spine festival: Libraries Out Loud at London libraries from 3-5 March. Aoif...
3rd March 2016
Bang Said The Gun still firing on all cylinders in new theatre home
Bang Said The Gun has been a legendary spoken word night in London for a number of years, famed for its riotous atmosphere and its tongue-in-cheek credo: “Poetry for people who don’t like poetry.” Now...
2nd March 2016
Deadline extended for £250 Brittle Star poetry competition
George Szirtes and Jacqueline Gabbitas will be judging Brittle Star magazine’s £250 poetry competition. The deadline has been extended to 18 March. More details
2nd March 2016
Head for St Andrews for Scotland's biggest poetry festival
Scotland’s biggest poetry festival kicks off next week, with the Stanza festival celebrating live poetry in all its forms for five days at St Andrews. This year's two themes are Body of Poetry - poetr...
2nd March 2016
Deadline nears for £500 Wenlock competition
Don Paterson will be judging the £500 Wenlock poetry festival competition. The long list of poems will be chosen by a panel of prize-winning, published poets including Wenlock’s festival poet in resid...
1st March 2016
PGR Poetry invites guest poets from the past to help celebrate 10th birthday
Organisers of a poetry mic night in the Midlands are inviting previous guest poets to join them in celebrating their 10th anniversary. PGR (Pure Good ‘N’ Right) Poetry in Leamington Spa is holding its...
1st March 2016
