At the Poetry Cafe Event - Over the Rainbow

New Poetry Review Out Now!

The Poetry Society's latest edition of Poetry Review, edited by Maurice Riordan, explores Seamus Heaney's idea of the omphalos, a place that is central to a poet's imaginative world, in essays by Colette Bryce and Ian Duhig. In 'Face to Face' Patrick Crotty offers an in-depth interview with Michael Longley, and Richard Gwyn writes on Cavafy. New poems by Matthew Dickman, Hugo Williams, Ruby Robinson, Leontia Flynn, Matthew Sweeney, Eve Grubin, Kate Potts, and many, many more. The issue includes a warm tribute to Seamus Heaney.

Edited by Maurice Riordan, the latest issue of Poetry Review explores Seamus Heaney's idea of the omphalos, a place that is central to a poet's imaginative world, in essays by Colette Bryce and Ian Duhig. In 'Face to Face' Patrick Crotty offers an in-depth interview with Michael Longley, and Richard Gwyn writes on Cavafy. New poems by Matthew Dickman, Hugo Williams, Ruby Robinson, Leontia Flynn, Matthew Sweeney, Eve Grubin, Kate Potts, and many, many more. The issue includes a warm tribute to Seamus Heaney, who died on 30 August. Full contents list and downloadable pdfs here.

Kate Tempest Wins 2013 Ted Hughes Award for New Work

Judges Maura Dooley, Ian Duhig and Cornelia Parker have presented the 2012 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry to Kate Tempest for 'Brand New Ancients' - an hour-long spoken story told over a live orchestral score.
Making the announcements, the judges said: “Our brief was to find the most exciting contribution to poetry this year. We judges were unanimous in feeling that Kate Tempest fulfilled this with knobs on! Lorca wrote that ‘a play is a poem standing up’ – Kate’s poem stands up in every way. Kate Tempest has created here an ambitious, unforgettable mythology and made us look at the world afresh. Kate’s work is full of promise for the future of poetry.”

The £5,000 prize is gifted by Carol Ann Duffy, funded from the annual honorarium the Poet Laureate traditionally receives from HM The Queen. Kate Tempest was presented with her prize by Carol Ann Duffy at an award ceremony at the Savile Club, London, on Wednesday 27th March 2013, alongside the winner of the National Poetry Competition 2012. Now in its fourth year, the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry is awarded annually to recognise excellence and innovation in poetry. It is one of the only awards to acknowledge the wide range of work being produced by poets – not just in books, but beyond. Read more about Kate Tempest and Brand New Ancients here.
The judges considered work in a wide variety of forms for the award – from radio-plays and installations to books and sound works – including a number of interdisciplinary collaborations. Seven poets were then shortlisted alongside Kate Tempest: Colette Bryce, Roy Fisher, Ruth Padel, Mario Petrucci, Denise Riley and Tamar Yoseloff. For more information on the Shortlist click here.

Thanks to the Poetry Society for this news.

Award-winning Irish poet Maurice Riordan is the new Editor of Poetry Review

The Poetry Society are delighted to announce that award-winning Irish poet Maurice Riordan is the new Editor of Poetry Review. Maurice will take up the role later in the year, beginning with the autumn issue of the magazine, which will be published in September 2013.

Looking forward to his Editorship of the Review, Maurice said: “It’s a good moment for poetry now the century is gathering pace. I sense a disturbing and creative energy in the air, alongside the vast new reach of our science and technologies. I’d want to plug in to that – and also to re-establish links with what’s happening in poetry elsewhere, initially in North America.”

An experienced poetry editor as well as an acclaimed poet, Maurice has edited numerous anthologies and was Editor of Poetry London from 2005 to 2009. He is currently Professor of Poetry at Sheffield Hallam University. 

Riordan’s poetry collections (all published by Faber) include A Word from the Loki (1995), a Poetry Book Society choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize; and Floods (2000), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award. The Holy Land won the 2007 Michael Hartnett Award. A new collection, The Water Stealer, will be published this year. 

Guest Editors Moniza Alvi & Esther Morgan are producing the spring issue of the magazine, to be published at the end of March. The summer 2013 issue of Poetry Review will be guest edited by the leading poet, translator and novelist Patrick McGuinness.

Find out more via the Poetry Society media room at: www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/mediaroom/

Source: Poetry Society Member Newsletter

The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry seeking recommendations

The Poetry Society’s award for collaborative work in poetry is now in its fourth year. The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry seeks to reward poetry in books, but also on stage, broadcast, in art galleries and public art. The judges of The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2012 are currently accepting recommendations from Poetry Society and Poetry Book Society members. The deadline for recommendations is 4th January 2013. For more information see www.poetrysociety.org.uk

The Poetry Society Celebrate Edward Lear's 200th birthday

Happy Birthday Edward Lear: an illustrated tribute

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The Exhibition

The Poetry Society are kicking off a mini-season of celebrations to mark Edward Lear’s 200th birthday (on May 12th) with an exhibition at the Poetry Society’s own Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX.

'Happy Birthday Edward Lear' features contributions from 40 big-name artists, illustrators and animators, including Glen Baxter, Vaughan Oliver, Jonny Hannah, Phil Shaw and Louise Weir. The exhibition is organised by artists Linda Hughes and Andrew Baker, and will run from Monday 7th May until Saturday 9th June. Some of the works are for sale.

Edward Lear for sharing
 
On Thursday, May 24th the Poetry Café will host a salon for Poetry Society members. They’re inviting you (and others, to be announced) to bring along and read a poem by Edward Lear, or inspired by Lear. (They’re hunting out hidden gems of the limerick art to share.) The bar will be open, and the exhibition will still be on display. Further details to be announced. Contact the Poetry Society for further information.

For teachers (and young poets)

The Poetry Society has also commissioned new lesson plans for teachers to celebrate the grandfather of nonsense verse.

Look out for details of other Lear-related events and projects in the coming months.

www.poetrysociety.org.uk

News from The Poetry Society about their Annual Lecture

 

Paul Muldoon: The Poetry Society Annual Lecture
The Word on the Street: Parnassus and Tin Pan Alley 

 

London & Ledbury

 

 

As announced in the current issue of Poetry News, Paul Muldoon will deliver this year's Poetry Society Annual Lecture - London and Ledbury.  

 

How do we know when and why a poem is going to be a poem and a song a song? Muldoon asks in his lecture, 'The Word on the Street: Parnassus and Tin Pan Alley'. During the event Muldoon will introduce some new poems and song lyrics, and discuss the impact of one genre on the other in his and other writers' work.

 

TICKETS for both events are £8 but there is a special discounted price for Poetry Society members at £7. 

 

SATURDAY 30 JUNE, 4.30pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX

Buy your tickets at:

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/literature-spoken-word/tickets/paul-muldoon-poetry-society-annual-lecture-65957

For the London event, please use the online code POSOC (in capitals) to claim your discounted tickets (note: there is a booking fee of £1.75 unless you are also a Southbank member)

(please note that the starting time for this event was previously announced incorrectly as 5pm)

Tel: 0844 847 9910 (the phone number was previously given incorrectly as 020 7921 0823)

SUNDAY 1 JULY, 4.30pm, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Herefordshire
Booking opens 21 May
0845 458 1743www.poetry-festival.com

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MORE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

This Saturday - 21 April - 4.30pm: Vicki Feaver, Ann Gray, Kim Moore, Panel Discussion: Prize-Winning Poets. Dorothy Wordsworth Festival of Women's Poetry, in association with the Poetry Society, Wordsworth Trust, Cumbria. Chaired by Poetry Society Director, Judith Palmer. Vicki Feaver has won both second and third prizes in the National Poetry Competition, Ann Gray was commended in the 2011 National Poetry Competition and Kim Moore won the Poetry Society's Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and an Eric Gregory Award in 2011. What role do awards and competitions play in a poet's development? Our poets will discuss the advantages, and perhaps even disadvantages, of winning prizes, and read their prize-winning poems. £5 advance payment, £6 on the door. To book, please call the Wordsworth Trust on 01539 435 544, or complete their contact form

 

26 June to 1 July: As part of Poetry Parnassus at Southbank Centre, London, we will be launching the summer issue of Poetry Review, guest-edited by George Szirtes (date to be confirmed). Come and meet us at the International Poetry Fair at the weekend, where we will have a stall. On Sunday 1 July, 7.30pm, there will be a Poetry Pub Quiz - Poetry + Pub + Quiz - what's not to like? Come along to Concrete Bar at Hayward Gallery for a glass (or three). [Poetry Parnassus: The world’s poets are coming to London - meet them, hear them and celebrate with them. There are over 100 free events, activities and workshops happening every day throughout the festival. The world’s most exciting poets, rappers, spoken word artists, singers and storytellers are gathering for this huge event that will make history as the largest poetry festival ever staged in the UK. Keep checking the Southbank Centre’s website for further updates or pop along on the day to find out what’s on. http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/poetry-parnassus]

Saturday 7 July. In association with the Poetry Society, Tony Harrison will be appearing at Southbank Centre in London as part of the London Literature Festival. More details soon.

 

Thursday 4 October will be National Poetry Day. The theme hasn't been confirmed yet but we will notify everyone as soon as we know.

Best wishes, 

Paul McGrane
Membership Manager
The Poetry Society
22 Betterton Street
London WC2H 9BX