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Recent Blog Updates

Articles, Poems, Tips & Advice from our Staff and Campus Community.

How I Did It: Keith Jarrett

Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Keith Jarrett on what inspired him to write the poem ‘islands [a cobra in the cockpit]’ in…

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4 Poets Who Innovated Typographical Poetry

Interested in the poetry of typographical innovation? Lydia Kennaway, who is teaching her London course Fontasia: Poetry & Rebellious Typography this October tells us about four poets who innovated the appearance of poetic text. George Herbert Herbert is often presented as a forerunner of Concrete or Visual Poetry, with ‘Easter Wings’ his most well-known example,…

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Laurel Prize Winner 2026: ‘Midden Witch’ by Fiona Benson

The Poetry School and UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage are delighted to announce the winner of The Laurel Prize 2026 is Fiona Benson for her collection Midden Witch (Jonathan Cape). Fiona has been awarded £5,000 and a four-night writing retreat in mid-Wales courtesy of 2026 prize partners Write Within. WHAT THE JUDGES SAY “Fiona Benson’s…

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How I Did It: Sarah Howe

Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Sarah Howe on what inspired her to write the poem ‘A History of my Relationship with my…

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5 Tips for Writing About Death in Poetry

Writing about death in poetry can be extremely challenging, so Sascha Akhtar, who is teaching her course Somebody’s Walking Over My Grave this October, has put together some tips for finding the right words to use in your writing. 1. Feel Emotion is frowned upon in Western culture, both in our workspaces, often within family…

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