On National Poetry Day, 1 October, here’s just a sample of the many events taking place: 

In London, from 10am to 9pm, at the Poetry Pharmacy, 175-179 Oxford Street, there’s a day-long celebration of poetry in the many languages spoken and written by London’s communities. Poets will be invited to read a poem first in their mother tongue, then in the English translation.  

Travellers on the Tyneside ferry between North and South Shields - and back again - will be treated to a five-minute poetry film, Crossings by Noel Connor, a commemoration of his Irish ancestors, who made the same crossing in 1848.   

There’s a family-friendly poetry walk with East Anglian poet Aruna Stannard starting at 12 pm at Felixstowe library, in search of the ‘magic of the street’, or  the beauty in the everyday. Using poems as reflection points along the route, there’ll be an hour of gentle walking near to the town and along the seafront, with occasional stops for a poem along the way, and wrapped up with an optional 30-minute reflection over a hot drink back at the library. Everyone is welcome, including babies, toddlers, older children and their grown-ups. 

More walking involved for those feeling fit - or needing the exercise, physical and mental - in Winchester. Meet at the Handlebar Cafe at 4pm before roaming St Catherine’s Hill and the water meadows with Mark Rutter on a ‘haiku walk’ to create short poems inspired by the landscape - and, of course, wonder. 

Selby’s Poets’ Corner is staging events at the town’s abbey and library. At the abbey, there will be display boards featuring poems by the poetry group, all responding in different ways to the theme of Wonder. At the library, more poems will be displayed alongside the Poetree, an interactive installation that will grow throughout the week. Young and old alike are invited to add a paper leaf to the tree containing a thought, a few lines of poetry, a sketch or simply something that brings them a sense of wonder. Everyone is welcome to take part, with no previous experience of writing poetry needed.

There’s a Dead Poets Slam hosted by Dean Atta, at Acton library in west London, from 6-9pm. Celebrate the poets of the past who continue to inspire us, dress as your chosen poet and perform one of their poems. All languages and experience levels are welcome. 

Elsewhere in London, at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden, the legendary Poetry Unplugged open-mic night is back for National Poetry Day, hosted by Niall O’Sullivan. Doors open at 7pm, for a prompt 7.30 start.

In Morpeth local poets Gene Groves, Valerie Apted, Jan Clarke, Paula Michelle, Mark Gregory, Roy Matthew Heath, Clare McAndrew, Judy Smith and Gez Kelly from Morpeth Poetry Group will be reading at Morpeth’s Northern Poetry LIbrary from 6-7.15pm. All have stories to tell, and some may appear in costume. 

Meanwhile in Durham Cynthia Fuller, SJ Litherland, Eliza Mood and Gillian Allnutt will be reading from their collections at The People’s Bookshop, High Street, Durham, from 7-9pm. Doors open 6.30, tickets £5. 

There are also National Poetry Day events taking place after the big day itself.

On Friday 2 October, at Wallsend Community Hub and Library, from 2-4pm, there’s a performance of poetry and the unveiling of a community artwork, inspired by specially written poetry and created in collaboration through artist-led workshops with Wallsend Writers and library users. The icing on the cake will be a sing-a-long of Wonderwall by Oasis and It's a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. It’s free, with refreshments available.

On Monday 5 December, at Alnwick library, Write Out Loud’s Greg Freeman will giving a reading. What’s so wonderful about that? Well, southerner Greg will be reading poems about Northumberland, his new, wonderful, adopted homeland.

    

You can find more details of many of these and other events here