Like to join the Write Out Loud team?
We are offering opportunities for new volunteers to take on important roles with this major poetry organisation with a large user base. It could be an hour or two per month doing the little things that make a big difference, or an editorial or coordinator role. Students to retirees, experienced or willing to learn, we’d love to hear from you.
Of interest to anyone looking to find out more abou...
31st December 2018
Last day to enter the Write Out Loud WoLF poetry competition!
Write Out Loud is proud to announce that we have once again been chosen to organise the Wolverhampton Literature Festival (WoLF) poetry competition, and build upon the success of last year. The competition opens to entries on November 1st, and runs through till the last minutes of 2018, giving you ...
31st December 2018
A Christmas message, and an appeal
A Peaceful Christmas to you all
On behalf of the Write Out Loud Team, here’s wishing you a Brexit-news-free, Trumpless, peaceful, poetic Christmas.
Whilst reading this, please consider:
What ...
30th December 2018
'All through the day they return to stand over the seedling and whisper'
Nancy Miller Gomez lives in California and directs writing workshops for incarcerated men and women. This poem gives us a glimpse of innocent delight inside those walls. It's from her chapbook, Puni...
27th December 2018
Our Poem of the Week is ‘Sunflower’ by Alexandra Rockwell Lorenz
Our final Poem of the Week for 2018 (we'll be taking a break over Xmas/New Year) is by Alexandra Rockwell Lorenz. At the time of year when days are short, her poem Sunflower gives a nod in its title t...
24th December 2018
'You could watch her cap it in a chicory coffee can'
Ryler Dustin of Bellingham, Washington, is a graduate student in our creative writing program at the University of Nebraska, and this lovely poem is from the manuscript of a book for which he's hoping...
18th December 2018
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘To Life (full colour version)’ by Rick
This week, the POTW choice is the celebratory and gritty To Life (full colour version) by Rick.
Our thanks to Rick for his responses to our traditional Q&A, which you can read below. In the meantim...
17th December 2018
Seeing the wood and the trees: chance to become writer-in-residence with Forestry Commission
The deadline is 14 January 2019 to apply for two national writer-in-residence opportunities, which will begin in the spring, as the Forestry Commission marks its centenary next year. The commission is...
14th December 2018
Close: Emma Purshouse, Offa's Press
The endorsements on the back cover of the book were the first things that struck me about this collection. Instead of the customary kind words from her poetry peers, performance poet Emma Purshouse, i...
14th December 2018
The Knotting Poems: Martin Booth, Shearsman
Here’s a name I haven’t heard for some time. When he died in 2004 he had become a relatively well-known novelist at least one of whose books had been nominated for the Booker. Nowadays, it is pretty m...
14th December 2018
Poetry in the multilingual classroom, event
The Manchester Writing School is hosting an event on January 17th sharing ideas for using poetry in classrooms to improve inter-cultural understanding and to develop creativity, addressing the barrier...
11th December 2018
'This world my mother could trust only so long as everything was done right'
Tod Marshall, Washington's State Poet for 2016-18, with the help of that state's humanities and arts programmes, put together a fine anthology of Washington poetry, WA129: Poets of Washington, and her...
11th December 2018
Poetry: hearts and flowers, or engaging with the grotesque?
After attending many events at the recent Manchester Literature Festival, one particular reading that captivated my interest was A Celebration of Ted Hughes, with Amanda Dalton, Zaffar Kunial, Carola ...
11th December 2018
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Waking up to Snow’ by Peter Taylor
This week, Peter Taylor is awarded Poem of the Week for his piece Waking up to Snow. It's the second time Peter has received this award, so congratulations to him! Our thanks, too, for his responses t...
10th December 2018
Like A Fish Out Of Batter: Catherine Graham, Indigo Dreams
I grabbed this slim volume from the review pile by my bed on the way out to a frantic day of driving between the vet, the hospital and back to the vet. I knew it would be a stressful day and wanted so...
8th December 2018
Somewhere Else Entirely: Ruth Fainlight, Bloodaxe
Born in New York between the two world wars, Ruth Fainlight has lived in England since she was 15 and has had a long, distinguished career as a poet, translator and writer of fiction, drama and opera ...
8th December 2018
Manchester Poetry Prize 2018 Shortlist Revealed
The shortlist for the 10th anniversary edition of the Manchester Poetry Prize has been revealed – with founder Carol Ann Duffy returning to judge the contest in her final year as Poet Laureate.
Org...
7th December 2018
A History of Gay Poetry, 3: Crossing the Rubicon
Three poets of the twentieth century, all of whom were self confessed gay men, crossed the rubicon as the day of liberation dawned. A E Housman, W H Auden and Allen Ginsberg. Three very different peop...
6th December 2018
The Enduring Appeal of the Sonnet Form
A sonnet, as we are usually told, is a poem of fourteen lines, usually iambic, with a rhyme scheme and recognisable structure. Looking into the history of this well-known poetic form, we may also lear...
4th December 2018
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Confessions’ by Randy Horton
This week our Poem of the Week award goes to Randy Horton for his poem 'Confessions', a piece which mixes both comedy and candour, and what feels like a tip of the hat to Yeats in the final line. Our ...
3rd December 2018
Kyle McCall Wilson Hopes You Are Okay
When it was suggested that I should write about one of my poems, two came to mind instantly. One was political and to be honest I don’t think I’m educated enough to really have a discussion about pol...
2nd December 2018
