Poetry blog

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

Recent posts

Jiri Mordechai Langer Poems

 

Jiří (also known as Georgo) Mordechai Langer was a Czech-born, Hebrew poet and essayist.  He also spent a number of years as a teacher and a journalist. He was born on the 19th March 1894 in Prague into an assimilated Jewish family.  He attended orthodox Czech schools but, even at a young age, he felt the pull of Judaism.  In his free time he ...

Poetry and Theatre/Live Poetry/Never Irrelevant – Poetry News Round Up 7th July

 

Today’s poetry round up offers us an insight into how poetry can bring people together, and how we can be surrounded by poems but not even know it. Poetry Inspires Theatre The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s resident ensemble Universes, is currently performing a new musical, UniSon which is inspired by the poetry of August Wilson. The musical takes it inspiration from several the poets ...

Joachim du Bellay Poems

 

Joachim du Bellay was a 16th century French poet and literary critic.  He became well known as one of the principal French Renaissance poets who wrote collectively as La Pléiade.  Other prominent members included Jean-Antoine de Baïf and Pierre de Ronsard. He was born into an aristocratic family at the castle of La Turmelière, close to Angers in the north western region of the country.  There is ...

Henry Cuyler Bunner Poems

 

Henry Cuyler Bunner was a 19th century American poet, playwright, short story writer and novelist.  He spent the whole of his relatively short life in and around New York City and his verse and stories often provided vivid descriptions of the place that he lived and the people that he observed around him. He was born on the 3rd August 1855 in Oswego, a ...

Phillip Larkin/Jerwood Compton/Claudia Castro Luna – Poetry News Round Up 6th July

 

Today"s news features stories from the UK and US. Don"t forget to check back daily for all the latest news in the poetry world. Philip Larkin – A Fresh Insight into the Life of the Poet As part of the Hull City of Culture celebrations, a new exhibition has been opened at the University of Hull in the Brynmor Jones Library. The exhibition will ...

Henry Jerome Stockard Poems

 

Henry Jerome Stockard was an American poet and teacher.  At various times he taught English and Political Science and he also served as professor of Latin in North Carolina at the Peace Institute, Raleigh. He was born on the 15th September 1858 in the Chatham County region of North Carolina, the son of John Stockard, a hardworking lumberman and farmer.  His family’s origins ...

US Poet and Educator, Jack Collom, passes away age 85

 

John Aldridge “Jack” Collom, died on Sunday 2nd July at his home in Boulder, Colorado. He was a prolific poet, essayist and pedagogue. He taught poetry at both the local K-12 schools and also the University of Naropa, where he had been an adjunct professor since 1986. A memorial is being planned by the university for later this summer. Growing up in the ...

Henry King Poems

 

Henry King was an English poet and minister who rose to the position of Bishop of Chichester, following in his father’s footsteps. He was born in January 1592, the son of John King, Bishop of London.  Such privileged family circumstances allowed him to receive a good education, starting at a fairly newly opened establishment in Thame, Oxfordshire called Lord Williams’s School.  He went on ...

Prolific Poet Heathcote Williams passes away aged 75

 

Heathcote Williams, the English radical poet, playwright, actor and polymathic genius passed away on Saturday 1st July at his home in Oxford, UK at the age of 75. A rebel in the world of the Arts, Williams had been ill for some time. A much admired painter, magician and sculptor, Williams truly was a creative all-rounder. His paintings were kept in the Oxford ...

Poetry and politics / Beyond the Water’s Edge / Griffin Poetry Prize – Poetry News Roundup – 3rd July 2017

 

Poetry is all around us, and although you might not be aware, there is plenty in the news each day that relates to poetry. Today marks our first news roundup of the major news stories about poetry across the globe. Poetry and politics An unlikely stage, a diverse audience and a very inspiring speaker; this week poetry featured at the Glastonbury music festival, when ...