Blog
Welcome to our blog where you can catch up with the latest news and read guest posts by our writers.
September 30, 2016
Friday Poem – ‘Savoy Hotel, London’, Rosie Shepperd
This week our Friday Poem is from Rosie Shepperd’s tantalising debut, The Man at the Corner Table. You can hear Rosie read from this collection live on National Poetry Day, 6 October, at Berkhamsted Waterstones alongside Caroline Smith and Graham Cli…
September 30, 2016
Paul Henry & Stornoway singer Brian Briggs collaborate on song version of ‘The Glass Isle’
Poet Paul Henry has collaborated with the singer-songwriter Brian Briggs (best known as the frontman of British indie folk band Stornoway) to create a song version of his long poem-in-progress, ‘The Glass Aisle’, which is inspired by a stretch of the…
September 30, 2016
The results are in: Graham Mort shortlisted for VC’s International Poetry Prize
Following on from his longlisting, Graham Mort has been shortlisted for The University of Canberra’s Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize, for his poem ‘Ordinary’. The prizewinner this year is Michael Lavers, for ‘Your Father at Fourteen’. Yo…
September 29, 2016
National Poetry Day 2016: All you need to know
National Poetry Day is an annual celebration of poetry and all things poetic. Started in 1994 by William Sieghart, it has engaged millions of people across the country with reading, writing and listening to poetry. This year, National Poetry Day is t…
September 23, 2016
Friday Poem – ‘What the Dead Don’t Know’, Anne-Marie Fyfe
Our Friday Poem this week is taken from Anne-Marie Fyfe’s latest collection, House of Small Absences. Anne-Marie Fyfe’s poems have long dwelt on the role that the spaces we inhabit, the places in which we find security, play in our lives: House of Sm…
September 19, 2016
Katrina Naomi – new Writer in Residence at the Arnolfini
Katrina Naomi has been announced as writer-in-residence at the Arnolfini throughout their ‘Emotional Archaeology’ exhibition. Regarding her being selected for the post she says: I’m delighted to be Arnolfini’s writer-in-residence. I can’t stop smilin…
September 16, 2016
Friday Poem – ‘VII’ from Batu-Angas, Anne Cluysenaar
In celebration of the brief heatwave that has hit the UK, we are taking this week’s Friday Poem from Anne Cluysenaar’s tropical Batu-Angas: Envisioning Nature with Alfred Russel Wallace. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was one of the most famous sc…
September 16, 2016
Seren at the London Poetry Fair
Join us tomorrow at Conway Hall, 10:30am–4:30pm, for the Free Verse London Poetry Fair. 80+ publishers (including ourselves!) are exhibiting, and there will be free readings and discussions throughout the day. Don’t miss: Seren poets Caroline Smith,…
September 13, 2016
50th Anniversary of the Severn Bridge | An extract from Edging the Estuary
The original £8m Severn bridge was opened by the Queen on 8 September 1966, heralding a new economic era for South Wales. In celebration, here is an extract from Edging the Estuary by Peter Finch, in which Peter meets the men continuing the tradition…
September 9, 2016
Friday Poem – ‘Autumn Elegy’, Leslie Norris
Our Friday Poem this week marks the coming of autumn, and is taken from Leslie Norris: The Complete Poems, edited by Meic Stephens. This landmark publication of over 300 poems is a testament to a publishing life of more than sixty years. The late Les…
September 7, 2016
Poem a Month – September 2016
‘The Madonna of Oxfam’ from poet Judy Brown’s latest collection, Crowd Sensations, is September’s featured poem on the Poem a Month blog.
September 6, 2016
An Interview with Caroline Smith
Today we are joined by Caroline Smith, whose new poetry collection The Immigration Handbook weaves together stories of hope, frustration and pain, drawn from Smith’s experience as an Immigration Caseworker. Caroline Smith was born in Ilford and grew…
