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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 24m

Find out more about the 2025 National Poetry Competition here: npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

National Poetry Competition – from The Poetry Society

2025 competition artwork by Myriam Wares

npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 24m

💭 To help inspire your entries for this year's National Poetry Competition, The Poetry Society will be releasing a series of prompts throughout the competition.

Today's prompt comes from Johanna Magin, who was longlisted in the 2024 National Poetry Competition. Thank you, Johanna!

Go outside and note down a fragment of found speech from an overheard conversation, preferably a question. Write a poem that starts from that piece of found speech and see what story, what image, what soundscape emerges from that speech.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 2h

Hi there, this unfortunately seems to be affecting several other entrants as well. Our tech team is investigating and will resolve it as soon as possible. Please email us at support[at]poetrysociety.org.uk - your patience is hugely appreciated. We also accept entries via post if that's of interest!

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 1d

An excerpt from 'Soup of the Day' by Luciana Arbus-Scandiffio, which is featured in the latest issue of The Poetry Review and available to read in full for free on our website. 📚

I was the size of an acorn one time
And for the first year of my life, my breath smelled of apples
I had absolutely no teeth
And the top of my head was soft like butter cream
Not much has changed
Sitting in the waiting room
I don the dutiful shoe covers
I pick stray hairs from my sleeve
Though her mass is smaller than a scallop
I find myself weeping

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 3d

🥁 Calling all young poets! Come along to our next online open mic...

This Young Poets Takeover will feature a headline set from YPNer Luke Worthy, plus a Q&A about all things poetry. Anyone aged 14-25 can sign up for an open mic slot to share their work!

🎤 Sign up at bit.ly/NovTakeover

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 3d

Find out more about the 2025 National Poetry Competition here: npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

National Poetry Competition – from The Poetry Society

2025 competition artwork by Myriam Wares

npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 3d

💭 To help inspire your entries for this year's National Poetry Competition, The Poetry Society will be releasing a series of prompts throughout the competition.

Today's prompt comes from Chris Beckett, who was commended in the 2024 National Poetry Competition. Thank you, Chris!

Poetry prompt by Chris Beckett: Try picking a person/place you dislike, or a feeling like mud on your bare feet. Describe how loathsome it is, but then choose one good aspect however tiny and let the sun come out! Replicate that in the form to, e.g. start with short angry lines and then suddenly switch to a long line, like letting the poem off its leash.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 4d

An excerpt from 'On a Haybale, Off Route 57' by Harrison Hamm, which is featured in the latest issue of The Poetry Review and available to read in full for free on our website. 📚

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 5d

Find out more about the 2025 National Poetry Competition here: npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

National Poetry Competition – from The Poetry Society

2025 competition artwork by Myriam Wares

npc.poetrysociety.org.uk

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 5d

It's #ThrowbackThursday! We're going back in time to show you excerpts of prizewinning poems throughout National Poetry Competition history. 🕰️

Today's comes from 'Side-tracked' by Jane Griffiths, which was highly commended in the 1988 National Poetry Competition.

He was somehow lost in the dust of late summer,
On such an afternoon when he could without trouble
Believe in a month of Sundays, all things being equal.
A cloud straying across the sun, not the light
But the shadows were lost, diffused, and the breeze
Slopping past brought a rush of leaves lost early.
Crisp but pale, falling short of an autumnal blaze.
The breeze eddying, undecided back and forth and
forth again
Trailed memories faded as year-old rose-water,
And the thought "This year I must - must what?"

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 6d

Hi! Please could you email us at marketing[at]poetrysociety.org.uk and we'd be happy to pick up the chat there? Thanks!

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 6d

The next Members' Poetry Competition will be judged by Fred D'Aguiar on the theme of ‘A nose loses its face…’

The competition entry deadline is 11:59pm Friday 24 October 2025. Head over to our website for more details.

The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 6d

Joanna Guthrie reads 'Blues of the clearing of my aunt's fridge', a winner of the Members' Poetry Competition - Autumn 2025: 'Clearing', judged by Helen Farish.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 6d

Tickets are running low - act fast! poetrysociety.org.uk/event/online...

A Chorus of Poems: Creating a Collection with Victoria Adukwei Bulley – The Poetry Society

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bit.ly

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 6d

⭐ COMING UP ON 28 OCTOBER ⭐ : Join Victoria Adukwei Bulley in this online workshop where you'll experiment with ways of drawing connections across a body of work, discovering the patterns and echoes that can shape a manuscript, whether you’re crafting a pamphlet or a full-length collection.

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Reposted by The Poetry Society

Natalie Whittaker @natalie-whittaker.bsky.social · Sep 7

I'll be reading from my @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social book, The Point Is You Are Alive, alongside @marymulholland.bsky.social Wendy Allen and @alicehiller.bsky.social, at The Poetry Cafe, Tuesday 28th October, 7pm-9pm!

Free tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outrageous...

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 7d

Find out more about the 2025 National Poetry Competition here: poetrysociety.org.uk/npc

National Poetry Competition – The Poetry Society

The competition, run by The Poetry Society, is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for a single unpublished poem.

poetrysociety.org.uk

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 7d

💭 To help inspire your entries for this year's National Poetry Competition, The Poetry Society will be releasing a series of prompts throughout the competition.

Today's prompt comes from Estelle Price, who was commended in the 2022 and 2024 National Poetry Competition. Thank you, Estelle!

Poetry prompt by Estelle Price: Sometimes we are forced to wait, for a parcel or phone call, but also for life-changing events - a daughter giving birth, a diagnosis. Time, and we, change in those moments. Think back to when you waited. Climb into that space, smell and taste it, describe its edges and corners. What did it feel like to stare out at the world?

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 7d

We had fun on #NationalPoetryDay running workshops, games & an open mic in the Poetry Cafe! Thanks to workshop facilitators Astra Papachristodoulou & Shazea Quraishi, open-mic headliner Bradley Taylor, Stanza members Leah Larwood & Suzanna Fitzpatrick, and all who shared poems and made it a fun day!

Facilitator Astra with workshop participants who are writing and smiling in the Poetry Cafe.

Three workshop participants smile as they pass around paper.

Two visitors to the Poetry Cafe pick up posters and anthologies.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 7d

Matthew Dickman, who was scheduled to perform at this event, can sadly no longer attend.

In-person space has sold out. Only online tickets are available! poetrysociety.org.uk/event/the-po...

The Poetry Review Autumn 2025 launch (online) – The Poetry Society

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poetrysociety.org.uk

The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 7d

THIS WEDNESDAY: The Poetry Society is delighted to present the launch readings for the Autumn 2025 issue of The Poetry Review, edited by Wayne Holloway-Smith, with guest readers Joshua Blackman, Safia Elhillo (video), Safa Khatib (video), Serge ♆ Neptune, Joelle Taylor and Claudine Toutoungi.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 8d

An excerpt from 'Grass' by Mary Jean Chan, which is featured in the latest issue of The Poetry Review and available to read in full for free on our website. 📚

She took four steps this morning,
then another six, the nurse
tells me, counting as though
my mother were an infant
learning the sense of movement.

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 8d

Our 2025 National Poetry Competition poster, as seen in Little Acorns Bookstore, Derry.

Have you seen a poster in your local bookshop? Show us!

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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 10d

Find out more about the 2025 National Poetry Competition here: poetrysociety.org.uk/npc

The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 10d

💭 To help inspire your entries for this year's National Poetry Competition, The Poetry Society will be releasing a series of prompts throughout the competition.

Today's prompt comes from Lesley Sharpe, who was commended and longlisted in the 2024 National Poetry Competition. Thank you, Lesley!

The road not taken... track back to an impossible choice, weigh the moment, and walk the other path. How does it feel? Where does it lead? Who do you take with you, or meet on the way? Find the world where another life plays out. Write a postcard from it that reveals a long-held secret. Who will you send it to?

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