Posts By: Poetry School
Primers II Shortlist: Ben Bransfield
Welcome to the first in a series of sneak peeks at this year’s Primers candidates. The shortlist has been announced and the judges, Jane Commane from Nine Arches Press and Jacob Sam-La Rose, are busily reading the full submissions to decide which three poets will receive mentoring and publication in the second Primers: Debut Poetry Shorts. We’re eager to…
Poetry School
Florence Cox Wins Our Poetry in Aldeburgh Pronto Comp!
Florence Cox is the winner of our Aldeburgh ‘Pronto’ Competition. Congratulations! Congratulations also to three runners-up Patricia Wooldridge, Michael Hutchinson, and Roger West. We’re back from the beach, having had a brilliant time at the Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival – talking to the audience, sidling up to possible new poet-tutors, and enjoying some fantastic readings. Ben Rogers, our…
Poetry School
Coming Soon…The Spring Term Programme will be announced on 18th November
While the autumnal plane tree leaves flutter down Lambeth Walk, we are adding the final dabs of colour to the spring programme, which will be ready for booking on 18th November. Crack open your notebooks and buff up your tablets, we’ll have a fantastic selection of activities for you to pick from. Cast your minds…
Poetry School
Primers Shortlist and Longlist Announced
This July, we set up our virtual in-tray and invited submissions to the second year of our publishing and mentoring programme, Primers, in association with Nine Arches Press. Our Primers scheme will find three new poets whose work we’d like to foster, publish and promote. Thousands of poems later, Judges Jane Commane and Jacob Sam-La Rose…
Poetry School
Wayfinders: A Poetry School Reading at Poetry in Aldeburgh
Wayfinders, a Poetry School reading at the Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival, is an example of the Poetry School in action. From our earliest days, we have been a place where poets come to learn from each other, and where they find ways into poetry with the help of a supportive community of fellow writers. Tamar Yoseloff…
Poetry School
Poems from the film ‘Paterson’
Love Poem We have plenty of matches in our house We keep them on hand always Currently our favourite brand Is Ohio Blue Tip Though we used to prefer Diamond Brand That was before we discovered Ohio Blue Tip matches They are excellently packaged Sturdy little boxes With dark and light blue and white labels…
Poetry School
‘If I lay on my back I saw nothing but naked women’ by Jacqueline Saphra and a new writing prompt from Ben Rogers
Today’s poem is an extract from If I lay on my back I saw nothing but naked women, a sequence of prose poems by Jacqueline Saphra, illustrated with linocut prints by Mark Andrew Webber. Told from a child’s perspective, the poems recount quirky, sometimes unnerving, scenes of family life, featuring a cast of eccentric parents…
Poetry School
Aft by Holly Corfield Carr and a new writing prompt from Ben Rogers
Poem of the Day – AFT by Holly Corfield Carr Today’s poem was a site-specific piece commissioned by Spike Island (a centre for contemporary art and design based in Bristol) with Bristol Ferry. Written while listening to the sea shanties of a Bristol sailor recorded in 1950, Holly Corfield Carr created a poem whose couplets were…
Poetry School
An Intimate Dinner with Raised Voices by Anna Selby and a new writing prompt from Ben Rogers
Poetry in Aldeburgh Countdown – An Intimate Dinner with Raised Voices by Anna Selby Today’s poem is a disconcertingly noisy sonnet taken from Anna Selby’s pamphlet ‘The Burning’. In the poem, sounds are amplified in a way that they are not supposed to, the result of a house that “overreacts”, a cacophony from which there is no…
Poetry School
Borderliner by Hannah Lowe and Writing Prompt by Ben Rogers
Writing prompt – False Memory by Ben Rogers History can be a difficult thing to pin down, and the fallibility of memory can be one of the challenges in determining what actually happened when. Take a journey into the False Memory Archive, a collection of vividly recalled personal accounts of things that didn’t happen. You can read…
Poetry School
Poetry and Visual Art October 2016 Schedule
Poetry and Visual Art: Book here. Saturday 15th October 10:30am: Marian Goodman Gallery, 5-8 Lower John St, London W1F 9DY Giuseppe Penone: Fui, Sarò, Non Sono (I was, I will be, I am not). Informal talk on the exhibition from William Annesley, Gallery Assistant at Marian Goodman. 11: 45am: Hauser & Wirth, 23 Savile Row,…
Poetry School
‘The Adulteress’ by Kathryn Maris for National Poetry Day 2016
Happy National Poetry Day 2016! Today’s the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. The final poem of our National Poetry Day countdown is…
Poetry School
Interview with Ben Rogers, Poet-in-Residence at Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival
Hi Ben! You recently had a recce trip to Aldeburgh in advance of your residency. How’s it all looking there at the moment? Before the recce trip I hadn’t visited Aldeburgh for many a year and then it was a swift visit at sundown to wolf fish and chips on the beach sitting near…
Poetry School
“Battle of the Somme” Centenary – Collaboration Opportunity with Simon Barraclough
Attention all – we have a new opportunity to announce! From 2014-18, a huge range of cultural activities are taking place across the UK to mark the centenary of the First World War. The focus of 2016’s commemorations is the Battle of the Somme – or the film of the same name that was released…
Poetry School
‘Apples’ by Dante Micheaux for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. National Poetry Day is just a…
Poetry School
‘Save The Date’ by Holly Hopkins for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. It’s Day Five of our poem-a-day countdown…
Poetry School
‘Blue’ by Julia Bird for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. We’re posting one poem every day…
Poetry School
‘Go On, Say Something In French’ by Claire Trévien for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. In the build up to the…
Poetry School
‘A Butterfly’s Song’ by Rishi Dastidar for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. Starting today, we’ll be posting one…
Poetry School
‘In the winter of 1962 my mother’ by Jacqueline Saphra for National Poetry Day
It’s National Poetry Day Eve and to celebrate we’re publishing another poem from one of our incredible Poetry School tutors on the theme of ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘. Jacqueline Saphra sees you into NPD2016 with her wonderful poem ‘In the winter of 1962 my mother‘! ‘In the winter of 1962 my mother’ was originally published in…
Poetry School
‘Epithalamion, Memorial Day’ by R.A. Villanueva for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical. The theme for this year is ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘, so we’ve asked a generous handful of our Poetry School tutors for a poem with a message to share with the world. As the clock ticks down to…
Poetry School
‘Siberia’ by Tamar Yoseloff for National Poetry Day 2016
On October 6th, it’s National Poetry Day 2016, the annual celebration of poetry across the UK, and we’re getting involved every day this week with a helping hand from our Poetry School tutors. Our MA tutor Tamar Yoseloff provides our fourth poem on this year’s NPD theme ‘Messages: Say it with a Poem‘ with her wonderful piece ‘Siberia’. This…
Poetry School
Meet Ben Rogers – the Poetry in Aldeburgh / Poetry School Poet in Residence
Poetry Schoolers, meet Ben. Ben, meet the Poetry Schoolers. Some of you might have already met, mind you. Ben Rogers is a familiar face round London and Cambridge’s poetry events. He’s published a pamphlet recently with the Emma Press (Mackerel Salad) and he’s also featured in Carcanet’s New Poetries VI. Poetry in Aldeburgh is a…
Poetry School
Off the Page: An Interview with Niall O’Sullivan
An Interview with Niall O'Sullivan
“The materiality of the poem manifesting as sound within a physical and social environment can often pop the idealistic bubble that the poem was composed within.”
Poetry School Interview with the Primers Volume One poets: Lucy Ingrams, Katie Griffiths, Geraldine Clarkson and Maureen Cullen
An Interview with Primers Winners
“If you’re hesitating between sending poems to Primers or another competition, send your very best to Primers. You won’t regret it!” – Geraldine Clarkson, Primers Volume One Poet.
Poetry School