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Dena Fakhro wins Otley Poetry Prize

Poetry Society Member Dena Fakhro is this year’s winner of the Otley Poetry Prize. On Dena’s winning poem, ‘Elegy for a Potosí miner’, the judge – Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Otley Town Poet, said: The winner was the only poem to stay with me from the first reading. I think it’s such an elegant, arresting poem; […]

Gillian Allnutt reading at The Poetry Review spring 2017 launch

New podcast with Gillian Allnutt

Listen in to our latest podcast with the Editor of The Poetry Review, Emily Berry, and Gillian Allnutt, who won the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and is also a contributor to the spring 2017 issue of the magazine. “You listen for the poem to say itself”   The two poets discuss what meditation and […]

The Poetry Café is hiring!

The Poetry Café is one of London’s liveliest literary spaces. Re-launching after a major refurbishment, we’re now recruiting our new Front of House team. We’re a dynamic arts hub and performance venue, café and bar, serving a diverse and eclectic community in the heart of Covent Garden. With a wide range of events and exhibitions […]

Listen to Caleb Parkin on Poetry Please

BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please, hosted by the inimitable Roger McGough, last week featured Caleb Parkin’s second prize-winning poem ‘The Desktop Metaphor‘ in their programme themed around ‘Work’.  Caleb read the poem himself, which featured alongside work by Liz Berry, UA Fanthorpe, William Letford, Phillip Levine and Carolyn Wells. The programme will be available to hear on the BBC […]

Kathy D’Arcy wins Hippocrates Health Professional Prize

Cork poet Kathy D’Arcy has won this year’s Hippocrates Prize Health Professional category. Kathy D’Arcy is currently completing an IRC-funded Creative Writing PhD in UCC, where she teaches with the Women’s Studies department. In 2013 she received an Arts Council Literature Bursary for her poem Camino. She has worked as a doctor and youth worker […]

Lesley Saunders Photo: Dwain Comissiong

Lesley Saunders wins Candlestick Press ‘Cloud’ Competition

The winner of the first ever Candlestick Press/Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS) poetry competition is Poetry Society Member Lesley Saunders with her poem ‘Hazy, Massed, Dappled.’ Second prize is awarded to fellow Member Sarah Westcott for her poem ‘Flight.’ Both will feature in Candlestick’s forthcoming pamphlet Ten Poems about Clouds to be published in the summer. […]

Comins first poet to the tee for National Golf Month

National Golf Month, which runs throughout May, has appointed its first poet: Poetry Society Member Oliver Comins. The theme of this year’s campaign, led by women golfers Charlie Hull and Mel Reid, is #GirlsGetGolfing – a drive to encourage more women and girls to try the sport. Comins’s poem ‘Rose Bed, Wisteria and Apple Trees’, […]

Rialto Poetry Competition 2017

Jemma Borg wins Rialto

Kathleen Jamie has chosen her winners of the Nature and Place Poetry Competition organised by The Rialto, with Poetry Society Member Jemma Borg coming out on top. In 2016, Jane won The Stare’s Nest’s Fledgling Award, was longlisted for the Winchester Poetry Prize, and was a finalist in Mslexia‘s poetry competition. Fellow Poetry Society Member […]

Strokestown International

Strokestown International – Poetry Society Members on shortlist

The Shortlist for the Strokestown International Prize has been announced by the judges Paddy Bushe and Maura Dooley, and features a number of Poetry Society Members: Marianne Burton for ‘Worm in Exile’, Geraldine Clarkson for ‘Ironing Veils’, Jacqueline Saphra for ‘Cherry Stones’, and Pnina Shinebourne for ‘The Life I Left’. The results will be announced […]

Lois P Jones

Bristol Poetry Prize: Poetry Society Members 1st, 2nd & 3rd

Liz Berry has announced her choice of winner, two runners up and seven highly commended poems in the Bristol Poetry Prize – and the top three are all Poetry Society Members. First is ‘Foal’ by Lois P. Jones (South Pasadena,USA), who has been longlisted in The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition in the last two […]

2017 Christopher Tower winners

Ella Standage wins Christopher Tower Poetry Competition

This year’s theme of stone for the 17th Christopher Tower Poetry competition attracted over 1,000 entrants (all born between 1998 and 2001) with many schools encouraging entrants for the first time. At a lunchtime reception in Christ Church, Oxford on Wednesday 19 April, Poetry Society Member Ella Standage, from Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, London was awarded […]

Gareth Writer-Davies

Gareth Writer-Davies wins Prole Laureate competition

Poetry Society Member Gareth Writer-Davies (Brecon) has win this year’s Prole Laureate Poetry Competition with his poem ‘Mushrooms’. Many congratulations! Gareth wins £200 and publication in Prole magazine. Runners up were: Joanne Key, with ‘The Ice Giant’; and Neil Young, with ‘Steel Work’. Joanne and Neil both win £50 and publication in Prole. The judge […]

Alice Oswald & Denise Riley on Griffin Prize shortlist

Scott Griffin, founder of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry is pleased to announce the International and Canadian shortlist for this year’s prize. Judges Sue Goyette (Canada), Joan Naviyuk Kane (USA) and George Szirtes (UK) each read 617 books of poetry, from 39 countries, including 23 translations. Alice Oswald‘s Falling Awake and Denise Riley‘s […]

Claire Collison

Poetry Society Members on the Hippocrates shortlists

Once again, Poetry Society Members feature strongly in this year’s Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine.  Iora Dawes from Stafford is shortlisted in the Health Profession category, while Mo Abu-Bakra (Ascot), Helen Gibson (Helensburgh), Maeve Henry (Oxford), Valerie Laws (Whitley Bay), Cheryl Moskowitz (London), and Karen Schofield (Newcastle-under-Lyme) were Commended. In the Open Category award, […]

Poetry Society Members on Saboteur Awards shortlists

Nearly 2,200 people were nominated in this year’s Saboteur Awards. The four most nominated works in each category made it into the shortlist, as well as a work selected by one of the editors. Voting is now open until 30 April to determine the winners. The results will be announced on 13 May. Among the […]

Jerwood mentees 2017/18

Jerwood/Arvon announce 2017/18 mentees

Poetry Society Members make up the four mentees on the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Programme for 2017/18: Romalyn Ante, Alice Hiller, Seraphima Kennedy, and Yvonne Reddick. Romalyn Ante Romalyn Ante grew up in Lipa, Philippines. She now lives in Wolverhampton. Her poems have been widely published in the UK, USA, and South East Asia, appearing in magazines/ejournals […]

Tess Jolly.

Winner of the Anne Born Prize announced

Congratulations to Tess Jolly, winner of the Anne Born Prize 2016, selected by Rachael Boast from the members’ poems published in Poetry News during 2016. Tess Jolly’s poem ‘The House is Not a House’ was first selected by Richard Price for the spring 2016 competition on the theme of ‘Territory’. Judge Rachael Boast said: “I […]

Stephen Sexton

The winner of the National Poetry Competition is…

…Stephen Sexton, for his poem ‘The Curfew‘! You can listen to Stephen reading his poem in an interview for The Arts Show on BBC Radio Ulster (from around 21:36 in). Caleb Parkin has won second prize for his poem ‘The Desktop Metaphor‘, and T.L. Evans has won third prize for ‘Detuned Radio‘. There are seven commendations: Sam […]

Nobody Told Me by Hollie McNish

Hollie McNish wins the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry

Ted Hughes Award judges Jo Bell, Bernard O’Donoghue and Kathryn Williams have chosen Hollie McNish’s Nobody Told Me (Blackfriars) as the latest winner of The Poetry Society’s prestigious Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. The winner was announced at an awards ceremony at the Savile Club in Mayfair on 29 March 2017. You can […]

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2017 launches

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2017 is now open for entries and this year will be judged by Kayo Chingonyi and Sinéad Morrissey. The competition is open to any writer aged 11-17 at the time of the deadline, which is 31 July 2017. Entries must be written in English and it’s completely free to […]

Roy Fisher. Photo: Jemimah Kuhfeld

In memoriam: Roy Fisher

Roy Fisher, among the most admired of all British poets, died on 21 March 2017, after a short illness; he was 86. In reviewing Fisher’s The Long and the Short of It: Poems 1955-2005 (Bloodaxe) for The Guardian in 2005, William Wootten noted how “poets and critics who usually swim well away from each other […]

New poetry film – The Cracked Jug

On World Poetry Day 2017, we are delighted to present a new poetry film, produced by The Poetry Society to celebrate the overall winner of the Poetry for Peace 2016 project, chosen by Judith Palmer. The film features the winning poem by Shakira Morar, aged 17, from Headington School, Oxford, who reads the poem in the […]

‘How I did it’ – poets on the Ted Hughes Award shortlist discuss their work

Our friends over at the Poetry School have commissioned poets on the Ted Hughes Award shortlist to explore the creative processes behind their work. The resulting ‘How I did it’ articles, offering fascinating insights into the working practices of some of the exciting poets on the shortlist, will be released each day this week. The first […]

Derek Walcott. Photo: Nigel Parry.

A tribute to Derek Walcott

We are sad to report the death of Nobel laureate, poet and playwright Derek Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017). Walcott’s 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature was one of the many honours he collected over the course of a glittering career. He won a MacArthur Foundation ‘genius’ award, a Royal Society of Literature […]

Jane McKie and Bill Greenwell win Magma Poetry Prize

Jane McKie and Bill Greenwell are winners of the Judge’s Prize and Editors’ Prize in the annual Magma Poetry Competition, with a number of Poetry Society Members on the lists, including Anne Berkeley – third in the Judge’s Prize, and Geraldine Clarkson, second in the Editors’ Prize. There were commendations, too, for Poetry Society Members […]

Bare Fiction Poetry Prize

Poetry Society Members 1, 2 and 3 in Bare Fiction Prize

Poetry Society Members Gaia Holmes, Jane Lovell and Mary Jean Chan were first, second and third in this year’s Bare Fiction Prize, judged by Helen Mort. Helen said of the winners: “Third place went to ‘At The Castro’ by Mary Jean Chan, a poem ‘for Orlando’. I loved the way this poem’s breathless narrative is […]

The Ted Hughes Award Shortlist

The Ted Hughes Award Shortlist has been announced!

Judges Jo Bell, Bernard O’Donoghue and Kathryn Williams announce their chosen shortlist for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2016. The shortlisted poets are: Jay Bernard for The Red and Yellow Nothing (Ink Sweat & Tears Press) Will Eaves for The Inevitable Gift Shop (CB Editions) Salena Godden for LIVEwire (Nymphs & […]

I am the Universe: Helen Mort’s new challenge for young poets

The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network, in partnership with the British Romantic Writing and Environmental Catastrophe project, is thrilled to announce a brand new climate change writing challenge set by poet and adventurer Helen Mort. Helen asks young poets write their way through the world’s increasingly shifting landscapes, drawing on the legacies of some famous (and some lesser-known) […]

Rosie Jackson

Rosie Jackson wins Berkshire Poetry Prize

Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Rosie Jackson, who has won this year’s Berkshire Music and Arts Festival Poetry Prize with her poem ‘A Charm of Gold Finch’ and, remarkably, also came second with ‘When he offers to teach her’. Rosie is the Poetry Society Stanza rep for Frome and was the Joint winner of the […]

Wendy Holborow wins Pre-Raphaelite Prize

Congratulations to Poetry Society Member Wendy Holborow, winner of this year’s Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Prize for her poem ‘The Noble Working Men’. First place: Wendy Holborow, ‘The Noble Working Men’ Second place: John Gallas, “Frederick Sandys Drawing Clouds” Third place: Tista Austin, ‘After Millais’ Poet-in-Residence’s commendation: John Gallas, ‘John Brett explains to his wife a […]

Listen in to the Poetry Periscope at St Pancras

The Poetry Periscope, which started life as part of the European Literature Festival in May 2016, has now reached the final destination of its year-long tour at St. Pancras International Station. Having undergone a paint job from its original yellow, the newly-blue Periscope is sitting proudly in the concourse at the station where the Eurostar stops, […]

Sarah Howe and Jane Yeh.

Jane Yeh and Sarah Howe talk rabbits, Wilde and ninjas

Jane Yeh, author of Marabou and The Ninjas, both published by Carcanet, is the latest interviewee in The Poetry Review podcast series. She talks to Sarah Howe, co-editor of the winter issue of the Review, about her use of dramatic monologue and the range of fantastical personas that people her poems  – ninjas, rabbits and […]

Jack Thacker

Jack Thacker wins Charles Causley Poetry Competition

Jack Thacker is the winner of this year’s Charles Causley International Poetry Competition for his poem ‘The Load’, selected by head of judges Sir Andrew Motion. Jack grew up on a farm in Herefordshire. He lives in Bristol, where he is studying for a PhD on contemporary poetry and agriculture at the Universities of Bristol and […]

Dante Alighieri. Profile portrait in tempera by Sandro Botticelli, 1495.

Most borrowed poetry books: Dante, Ayres and Duffy share the honours

Dante is holding his own against Pam Ayres, suggests the Public Lending Right’s latest survey of the most borrowed poetry books in UK public libraries. Carol Ann Duffy is the only poet to feature twice in the 2015-16 list, with The World’s Wife (Picador, 2000) and her most recent full collection, The Bees (Picador, 2011). […]

Dylan Thomas longlist 2017

Luke Kennard on the Dylan Thomas longlist

Cain by Luke Kennard (the current Canal Laureate) and Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair have been longlisted for this year’s Dylan Thomas International Prize. Two New York Times bestsellers and the winner of the 2016 Waterstones Book of the Year are among 12 books on the longlist for the £30,000 Prize in partnership with Swansea University. Awarded for […]

Mark Wagenaar

Mark Wagenaar wins Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize

After receiving over 2,200 entries the prizewinners and shortlist for the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize 2017 have been announced, judged by Mary Noonan, who read each and every entry. Among the shortlisted poets are Poetry Society Members Owen Lewis, Christopher North, Jonathan Edwards, and Cahal Dallat. First Prize ‘Late Song’ by Mark Wagenaar Second […]

Fiona Sampson

Fiona Sampson awarded MBE

CONGRATULATIONS! to Fiona Sampson, recently awarded an MBE.  “I’m truly honoured, and especially grateful for this sign that literature remains of relevance to the wider community – something that I believe passionately. What an encouragement to keep on writing and working!” Fiona Sampson has been published in more than thirty languages. She has twelve books […]

Thomas Lux.

A tribute to Thomas Lux

The American poet Thomas Lux died on 5 February 2017, aged 70. Born to working class parents on 10 December 1946 in Northampton, Massachusetts, he studied at Emerson College, Boston (where he was also poet in residence from 1970–1975), and the University of Iowa. Resident in Atlanta, he was the Bourne Professor of Poetry and […]

Neil Elder

Neil Elder and Patricia Helen Wooldridge win Cinnamon Prize

Poetry Society Members Neil Elder (for The Space Between Us) and Patricia Helen Wooldridge (for Sea Poetics) are joint winners of Cinnamon Press’s Debut Poetry Collection Prize.  Neil  has had poems published in a number of magazines and journals (among them The Rialto, Acumen, Envoi and South). His pamphlet Codes of Conduct won the Cinnamon […]

Rob Miles

Clean sweep for Poetry Society Members in Resurgence ecopoetry prize

Poetry Society Member Rob Miles has won this year’s Resurgence Poetry Prize – the world’s first major award for ecopoetry, with a first prize of £5,000 for the best single poem embracing ecological themes. The second prize of £2,000 goes to Poetry Society Member Dom Bury, and the third prize of £1,000 goes to fellow […]

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Platypus Press × Wildness Journal 13 hours ago

Tonight! 🎉 Join @CarlosAGLive and @RaymondAntrobus this evening at The Poetry Café (@PoetrySociety) ✨ bit.ly/2DWJRWG twitter.com/platypuspress/… Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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Transport for London 16 hours ago

🍁 Diary 🍁 By Katrina Naomi @ace_national @BritishCouncil @PoetrySociety tfl.gov.uk/poems Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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By Katrina Naomi

@ace_national
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@PoetrySociety

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The Poetry Society 15 hours ago

Sorry to Bother You, but I should Get Out 'Cause The Hate U Give leaves me with no doubt That I am not The Help, the help that you need 7 Dec's #FoyleYoungPoets Advent Calendar: Amy Saunders meshes personhood and pop culture in 'You're Not Black' @youngpoetsnet @chrisriddell50

test Twitter Media - Sorry to Bother You, but I should Get Out
'Cause The Hate U Give leaves me with no doubt
That I am not The Help, the help that you need

7 Dec's #FoyleYoungPoets Advent Calendar: Amy Saunders meshes personhood and pop culture in 'You're Not Black'
@youngpoetsnet 
@chrisriddell50 https://t.co/JEElPBEDWB
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Laura McKee 1 day ago

And after the controversy over what *is* the best winter poem in the ⁦@PoetrySociety⁩ #WinterPoemWorldCup here’s some bits of Christina Rossetti at the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters exhibition at NPG. Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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Laura McKee 1 day ago

More ⁦@trafalgartree⁩ with some of the poem, The Gift, around it written by ⁦@poetclare⁩ with London school children. A homeless fundraiser sleepout there tonight so part of poem behind barriers, which added interestingly to the words.⁦@PoetrySociety⁩ Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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The Poetry Society 1 day ago

Hannah Jane Parkinson: From Keats to Merseybeat: a retreat into my favourite verse is a soul saver theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

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Upton House English 2 days ago

It’s truly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. @UptonForm6 spent this morning reinventing the classic poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’. Great job ladies. #ChristmasCountdown @PoetrySociety Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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The Poetry Society 2 days ago

Is the candidate who wants your vote prepared to stand up against library closures? #arts4britain Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show theguardian.com/books/2019/dec…

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Astra ☾ 2 days ago

Summary of yesterday’s @PoemAtlas event at the @PoetrySociety Café: I lost at poetry jenga (thanks Russell), we channeled spirits, played with some SUPER cool poems! Thanks everyone for making it so special 💖 Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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The Poetry Society 2 days ago

"the people on boats are laughing backwards my skin feels less real and more like rubber" For the #FoyleYoungPoets Advent Calendar, it's 6 December (or is it?) with Annie Davison's surreal and time-warpingpoem 'Clocks' @youngpoetsnet @chrisriddell50

test Twitter Media - "the people on boats are
laughing backwards
my skin feels less real and
more like rubber"

For the #FoyleYoungPoets Advent Calendar, it's 6 December (or is it?) with Annie Davison's surreal and time-warpingpoem 'Clocks'

@youngpoetsnet 
@chrisriddell50 https://t.co/LJIF8IMrX6
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The Poetry Society 2 days ago

Tickled to see that @WarwickADavis ‘s musician ancestor died in Betterton St - now home of The Poetry Society bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08…

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Coral Rumble 2 days ago

Loved working with these kids for the Lighting Up Ceremony!Their highlights - choosing what to eat in Pizza Express, and being interviewed by a TV news team from New Zealand. #TrafalgarSquare #poetry @PoetrySociety Retweeted by The Poetry Society

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Julia Bird 2 days ago

tree on! @trafalgartree lit up with norwegian song and @PoetrySociety poems. i love this event. Retweeted by The Poetry Society

test Twitter Media - RT @juliamarybird: tree on! @trafalgartree lit up with norwegian song and @PoetrySociety poems. i love this event. https://t.co/JTrIsSXlJN
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The Poetry Society 2 days ago

Officially Christmas in Trafalgar Square now! 🎄 Retweeted by The Poetry Society

test Twitter Media - RT @PoetrySociety: Officially Christmas in Trafalgar Square now! 🎄 https://t.co/TV2dFrJHnf

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