Arts and literary centre dedicated to Seamus Heaney opens in Northern Ireland village
The site of a former RUC police station in Northern Ireland has opened on Friday 30 September as the Seamus Heaney HomePlace, an arts and literary centre exploring the life, literature and inspirations of the Nobel prize-winning poet. He died on 30 August 2013 and is buried in the nearby graveyard.
The centre in the village of Bellaghy includes a permanent exhibition documenting Heaney’s life a...
30th September 2016
Spoken word poets Hollie McNish, Matt Abbott and Sugar J Poet film ads for Nationwide
A new advertising campaign by Nationwide Building Society has featured leading spoken word poet Hollie McNish in its first film, which was broadcast during The X Factor on Saturday night.
The Nationwide campaign is said to celebrate the voices and stories of ordinary people with messages written ...
30th September 2016
Stablemates Trevien, Sutherland and Newman to launch readings series
Claire Trevien, pictured, Ross Sutherland, and Charlotte Newman, who are all published by Penned in the Margins, will be reading at Waterstones in Piccadilly on Thursday 29 September in the first of a...
29th September 2016
Vahni Capildeo's 'Measures of Expatriation' wins £15,000 Forward prize
Trinidad-born Vahni Capildeo has won the £15,000 Forward prize with her collection of poetry and prose-poems Measures of Expatriation, published by Carcanet. Capildeo has lived in the UK since 1991, w...
26th September 2016
We say farewell and thanks to Eileen and Shirley-Anne as Write Out Loud Middleton takes a break
There will be no Write Out Loud Middleton at the Ring O’ Bells pub in Middleton on Sunday 25 September. The open mic poetry night is taking a break while a new compere or comperes are found. Thanks to...
24th September 2016
Wenlock takes a breather with no poetry festival next year
There will be no Wenlock poetry festival in 2017, its organisers have announced, saying they need “time to plan the development of a revised, professional working structure and to create a more robust...
21st September 2016
Education, education, education at Write Out Loud Marsden tonight
Education and learning are the themes of this month’s Write Out loud Marsden at Marsden library on Wednesday 21 September at 7.30pm. Quoting Thomas Gray’s ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’, and ...
21st September 2016
Anthology of poems backing Jeremy Corbyn to be launched
Ten poets among the 50 who have contributed to an anthology in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will read from the collection at a launch in London next month. Poems for Jeremy Corbyn, edited by...
21st September 2016
Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside tonight
Dave Hartley is guest poet at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre, Sale on Tuesday 20 September. Entry is £3/£2 to this open mic night, which starts at 7.30pm. “Your journey to poetry” is...
20th September 2016
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
Write Out Loud Bolton will be meeting at Bolton Socialist Club on Tuesday 20 September for another open mic poetry night, hosted by Gordon Zola and Jeffarama! Entry is £1 plus raffle, and it starts at...
20th September 2016
PJ Harvey joins the Southbank bill on National Poetry Day
Singer-songwriter and poet PJ Harvey will be appearing at the Southbank Centre on National Poetry Day, 6 October. Harvey, who performed her The Hollow of the Hand collaboration with Seamus Murphy at t...
20th September 2016
Countdown to night marking 25 years of the Forward prizes
The countdown has started for the 25th Forward prize-giving ceremony, on Tuesday 20 September at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank. Five poets are vying for the top £15,000 Forward prize f...
19th September 2016
'Instapoet' Rupi Kaur's collection sells half a million copies
A poet has sold more than 500,000 copies of a book of poetry that she first self-published in 2014. Toronto-based Rupi Kaur, who posts much of her poetry on Instagram, is top of Amazon US’s poetry boo...
17th September 2016
Talks, readings, book-buying ... then on to the pub!
There will be more than 80 publishers at this year’s Free Verse: Poetry Book Fair at London’s Conway Hall on Saturday 17 September from 10am- 4.30pm. Entry is free to the fair, which is described as “...
15th September 2016
It's a fair cop: bookshop files poetry with whodunnits
Could this be a reference to poetry’s recent plagiarism scandals? Spotted on a section in the award-winning bookshop Dulwich Books in West Dulwich, south-east London, the joint heading: “Crime / Poetr...
15th September 2016
Chalking up a tribute: South Downs anthology to be launched at Winchester poetry festival
Seven poets will be reading from an anthology of poetry inspired by the chalk landscape of the South Downs on the opening night of Winchester poetry festival (October 7-9) next month. Winchester is a ...
14th September 2016
Sharon Olds wins $100,000 lifetime achievement award
The Pulitzer prize-winning poet Sharon Olds has won the Academy of American Poets $100,000 (£75,000) lifetime achievement award. Olds was given the Wallace Stevens award for "proven mastery in the art...
14th September 2016
Poems from the unexpected: poets to pop up during Stratford-upon-Avon festival
Stratford-upon-Avon poetry festival has invited 10 poets to be poets-in-residence across the town; at Shakespeare family homes, in a nail bar, rail station, on a canal boat, a hotel and church cottage...
13th September 2016
Poets take fresh look at Auden's 'Night Mail' on BBC2's poetry Saturday
BBC2 has unveiled plans for Saturday-night poetry, as part of wider arts and culture plans for the channel at the weekend. The plans include a poetry night on 1 October, ahead of National Poetry Day, ...
12th September 2016
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting at Stockport art gallery on Monday 12 September to share their poems at this open-floor poetry night. Each month a collage poem is produced from the...
12th September 2016
Judy Brown at More Poetry in London tonight
Judy Brown will be reading at the long-running More Poetry, hosted by Ken Champion and Juli Jana, at the Coffee Shop in Leyden Street, near London’s Liverpool Street station, on Monday 12 September. J...
12th September 2016
Spotlight on women in forefront of political poetry about Turkey and Syria
A feature in the Observer has turned the spotlight on two female poets that it says are at the forefront of a blossoming of poetry as a result of the strife in Turkey and Syria. Kurdish poet Bejan Mat...
6th September 2016
Page and performance poets team up for anniversary anthology
An anthology featuring page and performance poets including Andrew McMillan, Helen Mort, Lemn Sissay, Hollie McNish, Buddy Wakefield, Luke Wright, Kate Fox and Salena Godden is being launched later th...
6th September 2016
Windfall for runners-up in poetry competition after winner is disqualified
Runners-up in a poetry competition have received an unexpected windfall of £50 each after the first prize winner was disqualified. The £500 first prize in Ambit magazine’s poetry competition was withd...
6th September 2016
Jackie Hagan at Puzzle Poets in Sowerby Bridge tonight
Poet, playwright and stand-up comic Jackie Hagan, who describes herself as “a one-legged cosmic scally who downs champagne from her glittery false leg”, is appearing at Puzzle Poets at the Blind Pig i...
5th September 2016
