Andrew McMillan awarded MBE in New Year honours list
The poet and novelist Andrew McMillan has been awarded an MBE for services to literature in the New Year’s honours list. He was born in Barnsley in 1988. His debut collection physical was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection prize, a Somerset Maugham award, an Eric Gregory award and a Northern Writers’ award...
30th December 2025
An anytime present ... a copy of Write Out Loud's Echoes anthology!
Do you know someone who loves poetry? If you do, why not send them a copy of our Write Out Loud poetry competition anthology Echoes? We're very proud of this anthology. The winners were chosen by renowned Bloodaxe Books editor Neil Astley, who knows a thing or two about producing anthologies himself...
24th December 2025
Marratide: Selected Poems, William Martin, Bloodaxe
William Martin (1952–2010) was born in the mining village of New Silksworth, then in County Durham, and later moved to Sunderland where he spent the last 50 years of his life. During the second world ...
18th December 2025
Too late for the Golden Toad - but enter your poems on the theme of Extinction
This Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) is an extinct species of toad that was once abundant in a small, high-altitude region north of the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Leeds Peace Poetry competition is ...
16th December 2025
These words are made for walking: Milton Keynes puts writers on the map
Milton Keynes Lit Fest is mapping the city in a multimedia project to capture people’s experiences in relation and response to specific places – houses, streets, buildings, parks, trees, lakes, bars.
...12th December 2025
Dave Morgan steps down as organiser at Write Out Loud Bolton
The co-founder of Write Out Loud, Dave Morgan, was given a fond farewell on Sunday as he stepped down from the helm of Write Out Loud’s open-mic night in Bolton. He first launched the night around 20 ...
9th December 2025
American poet Carolyn Forché awarded honorary doctorate at Newcastle University
The American poet, teacher, and human rights advocate Carolyn Forché was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters at a degree ceremony at Newcastle University on Friday.
Her works include the famous poe...
5th December 2025
Tom Paulin wins PEN Heaney prize
Tom Paulin has won the PEN Heaney Prize 2025 for Namanlagh, his first collection in over a decade. The £5,000 award was announced at a ceremony in the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, organised by...
4th December 2025
After the coal rush, the winds of change in Blyth
From mining and shipyards to wind power and other renewable energy, the Northumberland port of Blyth is changing. One encouraging sign of its regeneration is the town’s new Market Pavilion, a cinema a...
3rd December 2025
Mary Shelley theme for Keats-Shelley poetry competition
The 2025-26 Keats-Shelley competition has been launched, with prizes for essays and poems and the Young Romantics Prize, also for essays and poems, open to those aged 16 to 18. The theme for the prize...
2nd December 2025
Poetry community marks 25th anniversary with anthology
I was a little unsure about joining Mole Valley Poets back in 2003. They were probably all much better than me. I might not be good enough. I’d have to share my writing with people who knew about poet...
2nd December 2025
Poetry of kelp: how coastal project inspired booklet of poems
Poems about bladderwrack, kelp, oysters, stones and coal dust found on a beach, and a skip full of seaweed have been published after a creative workshops project to raise awareness about coastal habit...
1st December 2025
