Captain Kate Fox leads Loughborough to storming victory on Christmas University Challenge
Performance poet Kate Fox captained a team of alumni from Loughborough University to a resounding win over a team from the University of Central Lancashire on Christmas University Challenge.
Afterwards she said on Twitter: “I had a shower so I didn’t have to watch me on University Challenge then came back in and shouted at myself on telly for guessing a question I knew I didn’t know. Thanks fo...
31st December 2020
David Constantine awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
David Constantine is to be awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, Buckingham Palace has announced. It added that the Poetry Medal Committee recommended David Constantine as this year's recipient “on the basis of his 11 books of poetry, in particular his Collected Poems, published in 2004, which ...
30th December 2020
Taking a walk with Simon Armitage along the North Sea coast
Fancy taking a walk with the poet laureate? From the comfort of your armchair or sofa, of course. Simon Armitage will be your guide on the first of a series of BBC Winter Walks, on 6 January on BBC4. ...
30th December 2020
Simon Armitage is making a film about the pandemic
The poet laureate Simon Armitage is working with his long-time collaborator, the award-winning British filmmaker Brian Hill, on a documentary about the pandemic, an article in the Observer reveals.
...27th December 2020
Paul Muldoon wins £5,000 Michael Marks pamphlet award
Paul Muldoon has won the £5,000 Michael Marks award for poetry for his pamphlet Binge, it was announced on Monday night. Binge is published by The Lifeboat Press. The judges’ comments after it made th...
15th December 2020
Simon Armitage praises power of Wordsworth's poetry on BBC's Poetry Please
Simon Armitage has spoken of his high regard for William Wordsworth, and how the Romantic poet “pressed the reset button on poetry”, rescuing it “from something that was about to become a very elitist...
13th December 2020
Jay Bernard wins Young Writer of the Year award for 'Surge'
Poet Jay Bernard has been named winner of the 2020 Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year award for their collection Surge, an exploration of the 1981 New Cross fire, in which 13 ...
11th December 2020
Poem for Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is unveiled
The Poetry Society unveiled this year’s poem dedicated to the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square at 6pm on Thursday 3 December. The poem is commissioned each year by the Poetry Society as part of its ...
9th December 2020
'When I battle, I insist I do it for real, that the battler doesn't go easy on me': Joy France on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live
Multi-faceted performance poet Joy France cut her teeth on stage at Write Out Loud open-mic nights in Wigan. After winning a succession of poetry slams, she appeared on Nationwide TV ads and even on p...
9th December 2020
Squiffy Gnu poetry group to launch anthology of 2020 work
News has reached us via Sarah L Dixon, aka the Quiet Compere, of a new anthology to be launched by a poetry group. The ‘Squiffy Gnu’ Facebook page was originally inspired by Jo Bell’s 52 poetry projec...
7th December 2020
Fight to save the poetry treasured by Uighur people suffering China's crackdown
An article in the Observer has drawn attention - as has another recent article in the New York Times, pictured - to the fact that Uighur poetry is now facing extinction as the Chinese government detai...
7th December 2020
Foundation for poets of African descent launches showcase
A new group of black poets of African descent will be staging a showcase on Zoom on Friday 11 December. Obsidian Foundation is a foundation for black poets of African descent, who often face multiple ...
6th December 2020
Joy Hendry wins new Scottish Poetry Library award
The Scottish Poetry Library has launched a new literary prize, the Outstanding Contribution to Poetry in Scotland award. The first winner is Joy Hendry, editor of influential magazine Chapman and a po...
4th December 2020
