'A poor Cinderella ... plum in the middle': Simon Armitage welcomes spring and the National Trust's blossom campaign
The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a poem that welcomes spring, as well as marking World Poetry Day. ‘Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers’ conjures up a plum tree growing through a “cracked slab in a city square”, and is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom that have been commissioned by the National Trust. In his poem Armitage goes on to describe the little tree as a “a poor Cinderella / rootling abo...
News and Opinion
Is it now the world’s favourite poem? According to an article in the Guardian, a musical version of John Cooper Clarke’s ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by the Arc...
20th Mar 2023 12:00 am
An anti-slavery poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is at risk of leaving the UK unless a domestic buyer can be found, the Department for Culture,...
18th Mar 2023 12:00 am
A Write Out Loud poet and Poem of the Week winner is planning to publish his second full collection this year, after his first was hailed as “witty, s...
26th Mar 2023 8:24 am
Primary schools in the UK have “limited poetry book stock” and there are “many barriers” to the teaching of poetry, with a majority of teachers feelin...
15th Mar 2023 8:44 am
The Poetry Society’s 2023 Foyle Young Poets of the year award has opened for entries. This year’s judges are Jonathan Edwards and Jane Yeh, and 2023 m...
6th Mar 2023 7:39 am
The co-compere of Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox, and a regular reviewer for Write Out Loud, Carla Scarano D’Antonio, has died suddenly and une...
15th Mar 2023 11:17 pm
A new addition to the lively poetry scene on North Tyneside is being launched next month. Poet Dean Jolly will be compering an open-mic poetry night a...
23rd Mar 2023 8:41 am
Wendy Klein will be judging the £300 South Downs poetry festival competition. The deadline is 15 April. More details
6th Mar 2023 12:00 am
Julia Webb will be judging the £600 Ver Poets competition. The deadline is 30 April. More details
6th Mar 2023 12:00 am
Manchester-based performance poet Dominic Berry has twice been voted best spoken word artist in the Saboteur awards. The affirmative title Yes Life gi...
19th Mar 2023 10:39 pm
Oxford-based poet Paul Surman’s first collection, Places (Oversteps Books) was published in 2018. A further collection, Seasons of Damage and Beauty (...
10th Mar 2023 4:27 pm
This short collection by Joe Williams comes with an evocative cover image by Walker Scott. In a Lowryesque scene in a back street a hunched figure pas...
10th Mar 2023 12:00 am
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