Poetry blog

We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.

Recent posts

John Farrell Poems

 

John Farrell, an Argentinean-born Australian poet, journalist, gold digger and brewer, was born on the 18th December 1851 in Buenos Aires, to a chemist who had emigrated with his wife from Dublin four years earlier.  Within a year the family were on the move again, this time heading for Victoria where Mr Farrell tried his hand at prospecting for gold, and then ...

Spoken Word Extravaganza/Poetry To Visual Art – Poetry News Roundup 26th July

 

In today’s poetry round up, big things are being planned by the BBC for National Poetry Day this Year, and a 300-year old poetry book becomes an intriguing, if not slightly gruesome, work of art, Four Day Spoken Word Extravaganza National Poetry Day this year will fall on 28th September and the BBC are planning to celebrate in a huge way. A four-day extravaganza ...

10 Questions to Test your Poetry Knowledge

 

Poetry – does the mere mention of it transport you back to the classroom and the type of lessons where the whole class were forced to study the same poem; delving into the wording and trying to unravel exactly what the poet meant? Perhaps you were fortunate enough to have the type of teacher who brought poetry to life for you; making the written words truly come alive for the ...

John Bernard O’Hara Poems

 

John Bernard O"Hara was a poet and distinguished schoolmaster in Australia. He was born on the 29th October 1862 in the Central Victorian town of Bendigo, the son of a minor Irish-born poet and teacher at a primary school.  He survived his school days unscathed despite severe financial troubles which led to the loss of the family home.  He was a very able young ...

Tolkien Auction, Childbirth and the 40-year Poem – Poetry News Roundup 25th July

 

Today’s stories include new about a rare volume of poetry that will shortly be up for auction, the inspiration behind a very successful poetry festival in Uganda and a poem that took the poet rather longer to write than he would probably have liked. J.R.R. Tolkien Poetry Under the Hammer If you are a fan of Tolkien and would love the opportunity to own ...

Hasan Akbar Kamal Passes Away – Poetry News July 24th

 

Once again here at My Poetic Side, we start the week with the sad news that another prominent poet has passed away. Noted Urdu poet, critic and writer Hasan Akbar Kamal passed away at the age of 71, late on Friday in a private hospital, he had a number of medical conditions and had been struggling with ill health. In addition to his ...

John Barlas Poems

 

John Barlas was a poet and revolutionary socialist political activist who was often known in literary circles by the pseudonym Evelyn Douglas.  He had at least eight books of Swinburnean-influenced verse published and he was known to favour the Decadent Movement of arts and literature.  This was a Western Europe-wide concept that emphasised an “aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality” Examples of work ...

John Barbour Poems

 

John Barbour was a 14th century Scottish poet, church minister and royal courtier who, it is believed, was the first to write in a Germanic version of the Middle English language known as Scots.  This variety was popular in the Lowlands of Scotland while Gaelic was spoken in the Highlands and Islands regions, and still is to some degree.  His most famous piece of ...

Atticus/Athletes and the Kundiman Prize – Poetry News Roundup July 21st

 

In today’s stories, we delve into the world of poetry and social media to take a look at the anonymous Instagram poet, look at what inspires the winner of the 2017 Kundiman Poetry Prize and we explore the unusual collaboration between athleticism and poetry. Atticus – The Instagram Poet The rise of social media has made it possible for poetry to reach more people ...

John Arbuthnot Poems

 

John Arbuthnot was an intellectually gifted man who was a satirist, physician and mathematician.  He is often described as a true polymath and was responsible for the invention, in 1712, of a character named John Bull who would go on to symbolise “middle England” in political and sociological posters, pamphlets and publications.  He was one of the founder members of a London literary ...