Royal audience for Write Out Loud poet Fred Varden at plaque unveiling
A Manchester poet who blogs regularly on Write Out Loud has read a specially-commissioned poem at the unveiling of a plaque by Princess Anne. Fred Varden delivered his poem at the unveiling of a plaque organised by ROC Restore, a restorative justice project by national charity Redeeming Our Communities. The Princess Royal unveiled the plaque at the Fuse Community Centre in Partington, to mark five...
25th January 2018
Ocean Vuong wins £25,000 TS Eliot prize
A poet who was born in Saigon, spent a year in a refugee camp as a baby and migrated to America when he was two years old, where he was raised by his mother, grandmother and aunt, has won the £25,000 TS Eliot poetry prize.
Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds also won best first collection at...
23rd January 2018
Susan Evans at launch of new poetry night in Aldershot
Brighton-based performance poet Susan Evans – pictured at last year’s Poetry Book Fair in London - is headlining a new poetry night in Aldershot on Thursday 25 January. The evening at the Gallery at W...
23rd January 2018
Write Out Loud Woking at the New Inn tonight
Karen Izod is the featured poet at Write Out Loud Woking at the New Inn, Send, near Woking on Monday 22 January. Sign up from 7.30pm for this free, open mic poetry night compered by Greg Freeman and R...
22nd January 2018
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
Poetry open micers will be convening at Bolton Socialist Club on Sunday 21 January for Bolton Write Out Loud compered by Jeffarama! and Gordon Zola. Entry is £1 plus raffle and doors open at 7.30pm fo...
21st January 2018
'When I am an old woman I shall wear purple': Jenny Joseph dies aged 85
Jenny Joseph, whose 'Warning’, with its much-quoted first line, “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple’, was voted Britain’s favourite poem in a BBC poll, has died at the age of 85. Joseph wrote ...
20th January 2018
Write Out Loud at Marsden library tonight
The theme – always optional, of course - is “animals” at Write Out Loud Marsden on Wednesday 17 January, with poems, songs and even jokes welcomed. The co-ordinator is John Ling at this open-floor poe...
17th January 2018
Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside tonight
Joel Sadler-Puckering and Parveen Butt are the guest poets at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre, Sale, on Tuesday 16 January. Entry is £3/£2 to this open mic poetry event, which starts...
16th January 2018
Farewell, John Togher: Write Out Loud Wigan's organiser to step down after 10 years at the helm
The organiser of Write Out Loud Wigan for the last 10 years, John Togher, is stepping down as organiser. His final stint in the role was on Thursday 11 January at the regular monthly night at the Old ...
16th January 2018
Usaama Minhas wins Hammer & Tongue national slam contest at Royal Albert Hall
Poet and actor Usaama Minhas has won this year's Hammer & Tongue national slam final at the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Afterwards on his Facebook page Usaama said: “Becoming the na...
13th January 2018
Helen Dunmore wins posthumous Costa poetry prize
Helen Dunmore, who died of cancer last year, has won the Costa poetry award for her final collection, Inside the Wave. The second edition of the collection includes the poem ‘Hold out your arms’, writ...
9th January 2018
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Regulars at Stockport Write Out Loud will be meeting at Stockport art gallery on Monday 8 January to share poems at this open-floor event that welcomes newcomers. Each month a collage poem is produced...
8th January 2018
Paul Muldoon awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
The Northern Irish poet Paul Muldoon, who was once described by the Times Literary Supplement as the most significant English-language poet born since the second world war, has been named this year’s ...
1st January 2018
