Vidyan Ravinthiran and Karen Solie share Forward prize for best collection
The Forward prize for best collection has two winners this year – the first time the prize has been shared – it was announced at the ceremony at London’s Southbank on Sunday night. The joint winners are Vidyan Ravinthiran, who was born in Leeds to Sri Lankan Tamil parents and now lives in the US, and Canadian poet Karen Solie. Vidyan Ravinthiran’s first book of poems, Grun-tu-molani (Bloodaxe Book...
27th October 2025
Versus Versus: ed. Rachael Boast, Bloodaxe
I am a retired Teacher of the Deaf by profession, and volunteer as a table tennis coach at Brighton Table Tennis Club, where I help train the national Down Syndrome squad. We have table tennis sessions with folk who have many different disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, learning difficu...
17th October 2025
New Seamus Heaney edition contains more than 700 poems
In a major poetry publishing event Faber & Faber have launched what is described as the definitive edition of Seamus Heaney’s poetry. It includes critical notes, a substantial number of uncollected po...
12th October 2025
Deadline nears for National Poetry Competition entries
The 2025 National Poetry Competition, run by the Poetry Society, is open for entries. This year’s judges are Denise Saul, Ian Duhig and Susannah Dickey. The first prize is £5,000. The entry fee is £8 ...
12th October 2025
Here are the shortlist contenders for the 2025 TS Eliot prize
The shortlist has been announced for the £25,000 TS Eliot prize for 2025. The list is made up of well-known poets, two debuts, two second collections, four previously shortlisted poets and a former wi...
12th October 2025
Farewell to poetry trailblazer Brian Patten, aged 79
Brian Patten, one of the three Liverpool Poets along with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri whose bestselling collection The Mersey Sound opened the doors of poetry to so many, has died at the age of 79....
12th October 2025
Unsung: Emma Purshouse, Offa's Press
This new collection from Emma Purshouse marks something of a departure from her previous work. It is partly inspired by the American poet William Matthews and, in particular, his poem ‘Morningside Hei...
12th October 2025
Small presses warn of crisis caused by funding cuts, increased costs, and political pressures
A number of poetry publishers have added their names to an open letter listing difficulties that are creating an “existential crisis” for small presses, including cuts to national arts funding, custom...
10th October 2025
Katrina Porteous wins £5,000 Laurel prize
Northumberland poet Katrina Porteous has won the £5,000 Laurel prize for eco-poetry with her collection Rhizodont. She lives on the coast at Beadnell and has worked on many collaborations with scienti...
2nd October 2025
Thank you, Morecambe! Looking back at our 20-year anniversary celebration
It's time to start looking back in amazement and gratitude at the part that Write Out Loud played at the recent poetry extravaganza that was – is – Morecambe poetry festival. We were there beside the ...
2nd October 2025
Our return ticket to Marsden! Write Out Loud's poetry jam at the jazz festival
Write Out Loud's annual poetry jam returns on Sunday 12 October this year to Marsden Socialist Club as part of Marsden’s annual jazz festival. Those who came last year may recall our exclusive access ...
2nd October 2025
Poet-playwright Tony Harrison dies aged 88
The renowned northern poet Tony Harrison, who courted controversy with contemporary war poetry and with another poem closer to home, has died at his home in Newcastle upon Tyne at the age of 88. A hig...
1st October 2025
Basil Bunting’s ‘Briggflatts’ - a poem that was written to be heard
I attend a number of poetry events - but it’s not often that I find myself at an actual poetry ‘event’. This reading of Basil Bunting’s acclaimed long poem ‘Briggflatts’, by the eminent poet Sean O’Br...
1st October 2025
