Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods: Tishani Doshi, Bloodaxe
Poet, novelist and dancer Tishani Doshi is of Welsh-Gujarati descent. Born in Madras, she received her Masters in writing from Johns Hopkins University in America, worked in London in advertising and then returned to India to work with the choreographer Chandralekha appearing on many international stages. She has won an Eric Gregory award for her poetry, and her debut collection Countries of the B...
31st May 2018
A Garden of Vowels in the Loire Valley
The Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Festival in the Loire Valley of France, often dubbed as the French version of the Chelsea Flower Show, will be transformed into a literary lover’s paradise this summer. It may be a festival of flowers but the theme for its 27th edition revolves around the ...
30th May 2018
'Drum solo for dementia' at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Using just his voice and a Roland TD-4KP electronic drumkit, award-winning poet Antosh Wojcik explores the effects of dementia on speech, memory and family in his debut work for theatre, How to Keep T...
29th May 2018
Anti-seagull by Darren J Beaney is the Write Out Loud Poem of the week!
This week congratulations are due to Darren J Beaney whose poem Anti-seagull is our Poem of the week!
Darren describes himself as an OAP – Old Age Punk, and his poetic influences tend towards the e...
28th May 2018
Diving off all platforms: quitting social media
Suli Breaks (pictured) is a charismatic poet from London who uses social media as his platform to engage people with strong social topics such as racism, religion, education and beauty. His innovative...
27th May 2018
Editor's Review: Spoken Word at Brighton Fringe
A whistle-stop, two-day visit to the Brighton Fringe on a glorious bank-holiday weekend at the start of May was always going to be unsatisfyingly brief. In true Fringe tradition events were everywher...
25th May 2018
Looking for mentoring and publication? Primers Volume Four is here
The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press are excited to announce that Primers Volume Four is now open for entries.
Primers is an annual mentoring and publication scheme organised by the Poetry Schoo...
25th May 2018
The Reader - A shared experience
Jacky Pemberton spoke to Write Out Loud about her volunteer experiences sharing poetry with The Reader organisation:
Two years ago, Chris Lynn visited Write Out Loud at the Old Courts in Wigan. He ...
21st May 2018
New faces and YOU at Write Out Loud
April 2018 saw the introduction of some new faces here at Write Out Loud, the arrival of whom marks a key moment in the development of this, the online poetry portal of choice. Earlier this year Edi...
21st May 2018
We Are All Lucky: Ben Banyard, Indigo Dreams
Ben Banyard grew up in Solihull but now lives in Portishead, near Bristol. His work has been published widely in print and online. We Are All Lucky is his first full-length collection and follows his ...
21st May 2018
Write Out Loud’s Poem of the Week is 'Random note 1' by Alex J.J.
This week, we offer our congratulations to Alex J.J for his beautiful piece Random Note 1. On his profile Alex says of himself:
Born in Middletown, NY. Korean American. Aspiring poet and writer. 19yr...
21st May 2018
Poetry in Stratford-upon-Avon: a festival and a competition!
From 17th -24th June The Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival returns for the 65th year with a poignant and diverse programme commemorating the centenary of the end of the First World War, with poetry ...
18th May 2018
Upside down, or the right way up? Brian Patten's new poetry collection
The renowned Liverpool poet Brian Patten has published a new book of poetry, his first collection for adults since 1996. In recent years Brian, who shot to fame with fellow Mersey poets Roger McGough ...
17th May 2018
Share the joy! A Write Out Loud guide to running an Open Mic
A few weeks ago Write Out Loud asked for Open Mic organisers up and down the country to respond to some questions about their own particular event and what it entailed. With the current wave of popul...
17th May 2018
The audio poem 'Tick Tock’ by Xoanxo is Write Out Loud’s Poem of the Week
Xoanxo is an artist who sees his poems as being the result of collaboration with his surroundings. This Poem of the Week is unusual and distinctive in that it's one you need to listen to rather than s...
15th May 2018
Write Out Loud: Social media updates
Just a reminder to all the lovely visitors to Write Out Loud that you can read, like and follow us all over social media too! If you haven’t done so already why not head over to the Write Out Loud Fa...
11th May 2018
Fantastic competition for Young Poets!
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2018 is open for entries and is looking for poems by young people aged 11-17 from the UK and beyond. With entries from over 6,000 young people last year across...
11th May 2018
Jealous Love: the coefficient of poetry
The poetry of mathematics is slightly obscure, lurking in the shadows of expectation. It involves mathematical operations being performed on poetic concepts, which, purely from a visual perspective, c...
11th May 2018
The Glass Aisle: Paul Henry, Seren
Born in Aberystwyth, singer-songwriter and poet Paul Henry has had nine previous books of poetry published and is an established voice on the Welsh poetry circuit.
In keeping with his earlier work,...
11th May 2018
Write Out Loud talks to Shrewsbury Poetry
In the latest of our regular series on open mic nights featured in our Gig Guide, Write Out Loud talks to Liz Lefroy, organiser of Shrewsbury Poetry who have an event this week and their next in June.
...11th May 2018
'At a certain age a man can begin to say things like that to his friends'
Some of the mannerisms of poetry that can get in the way of an everyday reader's enjoyment are elevated diction, obscure references, and a vocabulary that requires a trip to the dictionary. Here's a g...
10th May 2018
Ledbury BAME initiative for poetry critics
Ledbury Poetry Festival in collaboration with award-winning poets Sandeep Parmar (pictured) and Sarah Howe recently founded The BAME Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics scheme to encourage diversity in po...
8th May 2018
'We longed to go to Virginia Beach and put our toes in the tide'
Ruth Stone, who died at the age of 96 in 2011, was one of our finest poets. I'm especially taken with 'Lighter Than Air.' I love it when there's an instant at which something magical appears and for ...
8th May 2018
Cheltenham Spa: Anyone for Slamaggedon?
Are you a slammer? Is there a place in your poetry world for high-octane events, or do you shrink and shudder at the very thought of a baying crowd? Well, whatever your perspective on the Poetry Sla...
8th May 2018
‘Backpacking in Nepal, June 1971’ by Albert Tatlock is our Poem of the Week
Congratulations to Albert Tatlock for becoming the latest winner of Write Out Loud Poem of the Week with his piece ‘Backpacking in Nepal, June 1971'. When we asked him to reply to our questions he pai...
7th May 2018
A Watchful Astronomy: Paul Deaton, Seren
Born in London and raised in Wales, Paul Deaton’s debut collection is as much about family as it is about nature. A difficult father-son relationship is at the heart of much of what he writes about. T...
5th May 2018
Experience some Georgian poetry: translated and on tour in the UK
Two remarkable Georgian Poets Diana Anphimiadi (pictured) and Salome Benidze will tour the UK this May alongside British poet-translators Jean Sprackland and Helen Mort, and bridge-translator Natalia ...
4th May 2018
Performing Pupils’ Cuckoo Collaboration in Marsden the Poetry Village
Two schools, from contrasting areas – one rural, one city - have launched an exciting initiative, a partnership where poetry is used to form friendships, widen pupils’ horizons and build their confide...
2nd May 2018
Working class communities: Bread and Roses winners announced
The results of the 2017 inaugural Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award have been announced by organisers Culture Matters, an artistic collective of the political “broad left”. The award,...
2nd May 2018
'Others around me, others by the window, silently looking out'
In thirteen years of publishing this column we've never selected a poem about mental illness, but neither have I come upon one that feels so true. I am especially taken by the third stanza, which rema...
2nd May 2018
Boom! Make way for the Matriarchy at London’s Roundhouse
To tell the stories of the unseen and the unheard in a riotous, high-octane performance, Hot Brown Honey's Busty Beatz and Lisa Fa'alafi have teamed up with the Roundhouse and hip hop artist Yami 'Row...
1st May 2018
