'All week, I ran a fever that wouldn't break'
Caitlin Doyle, who lives in Ohio, writes haunting, memorable poetry about the familiar and the strange. Her poetry is a fine example of what I call strategic artistry, as if her words have been carefully held back until they burst into light at just the right moment. This sonnet, in which a young girl awakens to a world of new discoveries, originally appeared in The New Criterion.
CRADLE T...
28th January 2019
Overlooked poets, open mics ... and how a blog got its name
I started blogging around the same time as my friend and co-organiser of Puzzle Poets Live, Bob Horne, set up his poetry publishing venture Calder Valley Poetry. We both support the same poetry events in West Yorkshire, and kept meeting and hearing poets who were flying under the poetry world’s rada...
28th January 2019
'Haiku: Robin at New Year' by David Redfield is Poem of the Week
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Haiku: Robin at New Year’ by David Redfield. New Year is already fading into memory, but David’s beautifully focused poem brings it back to vibrant, twittering...
28th January 2019
The Best of a Bad Situation: Jamie Thrasivoulou, Silhouette Press
In performance Jamie Thrasivoulou has a sten gun delivery. It is the rhythmical bang, bang, bang of the best of ranters’ performance poetry, laying audiences to waste with a voice that is described as...
27th January 2019
WoLF poetry competition winners announced!
The second WoLF poetry competition run by Write Out Loud on behalf of Wolverhampton literature festival - which will take place over the weekend of 1-3 February - has been won by Sarah Doyle, pictured...
25th January 2019
'Staring down silver and crystal that would dare move'
There are so many fine poems in Richard Robbins' new and selected poems, Body Turn to Rain, published by LynxHouse Press, that I had a difficult time choosing one to show you. This one, though, with i...
24th January 2019
Afresh, afresh, afresh: publishers seek poems for anthology on trees
North-east publishers Iron Press are looking for poems for an anthology on trees. Poets can submit up to four poems, and the deadline is 30 April. More details
23rd January 2019
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Half-hearted’ by Ruby
This week, Ruby adds her name to the ever-growing list of poets whose work has been awarded Poem of the Week. Her piece Half-hearted reminds us that a short, tightly crafted poem can be every bit as e...
21st January 2019
Shahidha Bari to chair Forward prize judges panel
The presenter of BBC Radio 3’s arts and ideas programme Free Thinking, Shahidha Bari, will chair this year’s Forward prizes panel of judges, it was announced on Monday. Bari is a writer, academic and ...
21st January 2019
Bestselling poet Rupi Kaur leads way as poetry sales soar by 12%
The best-selling Instagram poet Rupi Kaur helped boost sales of poetry to an all-time UK high last year, according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan. The Guardian reports that sales grew by more ...
21st January 2019
Seeking inspiration? Christina Rossetti and a tiger might help
Tamar Yoseloff must be one of the most experienced of poetry tutors, from whom countless poets have gained confidence and inspiration, particularly from her site-specific writing courses for galleries...
20th January 2019
Elastic Man: Paul McGrane, Indigo Dreams
Paul McGrane’s debut collection is an enjoyable glimpse into the mind of a man whose tastes, formed in the last decades of the 20th century, will chime with those of many readers today. His title ackn...
20th January 2019
Hippocrates prize for poetry with medical theme is open for entries
The deadline is 14 February for the 2019 Hippocrates international Open and Health Professional awards for poetry and medicine, for an unpublished poem of up to 50 lines on a medical theme. The judges...
20th January 2019
Write Out Loud at Bolton Socialist Club tonight
Bolton Write Out Loud invites experienced and brand-new poets to perform their work to a supportive audience at the UK's oldest socialist club on Sunday 20 January. Entry is £1 plus raffle to this ope...
20th January 2019
Mary Oliver, award-winning poet of the natural world, dies aged 83
Mary Oliver, a celebrated and award-winning poet of the natural world, has died at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida, at the age of 83. She published more than 20 collections, and won the 1984 Pulitzer ...
18th January 2019
Where the road runs out: Gaia Holmes, Comma Press
Gaia Holmes is a Halifax-based poet and creative writing tutor who has previously made a living as a busker, a cleaner, a gallery attendant, an oral historian, and a lollipop lady. The first section o...
17th January 2019
Poetry newcomer Hannah Sullivan wins £25,000 TS Eliot prize
An associate professor of English at New College, Oxford, has won the £25,000 TS Eliot prize with her debut poetry collection. Hannah Sullivan’s Three Poems, published by Faber, is the third debut col...
16th January 2019
Clothes theme optional at Write Out Loud at Marsden library
The optional theme at Marsden Write Out Loud tonight is clothes - the colours you wear to stand out; the colours you wear to belong; your brand-new dress; your favourite jeans; suits of armour, suits ...
16th January 2019
'An Iago lie of pernicious intent, layer upon layer of dark deceit'
I've had my eye on Americans' obsessions for more than 70 years and I can't remember a time when public lying got as much attention as it does today. Attention yes, but consequences, no. I recently ha...
16th January 2019
Call for a bilingual Polish and a bilingual Chinese poet
Can you help Anjum find two poets to help with multilingual work in schools? As if being a much-produced BBC radio scriptwriter and multilingual poet herself weren’t enough, to keep her busy Anjum Mal...
15th January 2019
'Undiscovered gem of a poet' Alicia Fernandez to guest at Sale Write Out Loud tonight
The history of Western poetry is the history of poetry in translation. So says Alex Bellos in his book Is That a Fish in Your Ear? – the amazing adventure of translation (2011, Penguin). He does so a...
15th January 2019
Five Views of Mount Fuji: Myra Schneider, Fisherrrow Press
Myra Schneider was born in 1936, and grew up in Scotland, London, and Sussex. She has published a number of poetry collections, writes essays and reviews for literary magazines, and has co-edited anth...
15th January 2019
Poem about nuclear tensions wins Costa poetry prize
A book-length poem about nuclear tensions of the cold war period has won the Costa poetry prize. Assurances by JO Morgan uses a mix of versed and unversed passages to eavesdrop on the thoughts of thos...
14th January 2019
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Regulars and newcomers to Stockport Write Out Loud will be gathering on Monday 14 January for another open-floor poetry night at Stockport art gallery. Each month a collage poem is put together from r...
14th January 2019
The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Potential’ by Rich
14th January 2019
Multilingual classrooms, problem or poetry?
We have already reported to you how poetry is used to foster inter-cultural understanding, boost creativity and dramatically increase confidence in pupils’ use of English in multilingual primary schoo...
9th January 2019
Poets pay tribute to Frances White at reading
A London poet with strong family ties in south Wales has died of Motor Neurone Disease at the age of 68. Frances White, an English teacher and teacher of the deaf, published her debut collection, Swif...
8th January 2019
'I pawed away from the trunk, fumbled, and took my first step toward not returning'
A child at a school bus stop, on his way out into the world, a fine subject for a fine poem by Dante Di Stefano, who lives in Endwell, New York. Might we all live out our days in a place called Endwel...
8th January 2019
Simon Armitage awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
Simon Armitage, one of the contenders to succeed Carol Ann Duffy as poet laureate later this year, has been awarded this year's Queen’s gold medal for poetry, it has been announced.
Armitage, who g...
7th January 2019
‘Freeman Street, Grimsby’ by David Cooke is our Poem of the Week
The first Poem of the Week of 2019 (and a very Happy New Year to you all!) comes from David Cooke, who wins it for the second time. His poem Freeman Street, Grimsby is a beautifully observed piece, al...
7th January 2019
Tutti Frutti: Konstandinos Mahoney, SPM
A skilled observer, Konstandinos Mahoney communicates his enthusiasm for life and language in every poem of Tutti Frutti, his honest, warm and perceptive first collection, which was second prize winne...
6th January 2019
The Wear and Tear of Conversation: Charlotte Harker, Dempsey & Windle
Charlotte Harker’s The Wear and Tear of Conversation is an ironic and humorous account of the interactions between the self and its surroundings. The transgender poet and artist deals with depression ...
5th January 2019
Poems about home competition to aid Shelter
A poetry competition in aid of Shelter is to be judged by Michael Harrison and John Hegley. Entry is £4 per poem with all the proceeds going to Shelter. The deadline is 20 January 2019. More details
...3rd January 2019
Stories, blogs, stand-up, song: all part of the Spoken Worlds mix at the Pickle Pot
Emma Purshouse met Gary Carr over a cup of tea to discuss his regular poetry event, Spoken Worlds, which meets on the third Friday of each month, except December. Its current venue is the Pickle Pot i...
2nd January 2019
'Prophecy, the warning of what yet's to break out'
The glaciers that flattened my part of the world made their exit aeons ago, but in Alaska, where Peggy Shumaker lives and writes, they're just now beginning to turn back. Only deep in a Nebraska snowb...
1st January 2019
