During this extraordinary moment that we are living through we wanted to put up some resources for reading poetry that we have found and which we hope you will find useful. Some of these have been designed with the Covid-19 lockdown in mind; others offer readers interested in poetry some unusual new voices and perspectives to explore. As with our writing resources page, these are suitable for older readers.
Natalie Jabbar,
based in California, has been posting beautiful poems and images on her blog Live in the Layers for some years now. Her recent posts are curated around responding to the Covid-19 lockdown. She has an amazing capacity to find unfamiliar poems by well-known names, as well as a wide range of contemporary US poets who may be lesser-known to readers this side of the pond.
Check out her recent posts on Richard Siken, Ada Limón and Ellen Bass.
Closer to home, the Scottish Poetry Library
has been sharing some superb posts in recent days, including this, on the prose of Edwin Morgan, and, curated by Library staff, from the Poetry on Lockdown series, Mandy Haggith’s stunning poem Listening to the trees. There is also a weekly roundup of poetry-related news online and elsewhere, Poetry in Quarantine. Here is number 5. Finally, from their weekly From the Front Lines series, here is Shetland-based artist and writer Amy Gear on what lockdown means to here.
Words for the Year
has been posting almost a poem a day since 2014. That’s a lot of poems. Check out Dust by Dorianne Laux, Passing a Truck Full of Chickens at Night on Highway Eighty, by Jane Mead; The Eighth Letter (from “Letters to a Young Poet”), by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Finally, here are two amazing poetry blogs which, though currently dormant, have an amazing aesthetic and sensibility:
Structure and Style.
Check out Cheese, by Albert Goldbarth; Antilamentation, by Dorrianne Laux; And It Came To Pass, by C. D. Wright.
People, Planning and Poetry.
Check out Amen, by James Baldwin; The Solitude of Night, by Li Bai; I May After Leaving You Walk Quickly or Even Run, by Matthea Harvey.
You may also want to check out the poem-a-day feature at the Academy of American Poets, who have been posting posting poems by Black poets throughout the summer.
Another rich resource of contemporary poetry is Anthony Wilson’s online anthology (also a Bloodaxe book), Lifesaving Poems, featuring over 150 poets of all styles and voices.
You can find a fascinating and deeply rich resource of poetry in translation at the Poetry Translation Centre. Check our their growing list of poets here.
You can find another fascinating glimpse into the lives and poets from around the world at Arc Publications’ directory of authors here. It is a treasure trove of gems.
For a glimpse into the UK poetry publishing scene, begin with one of the best known and longest running magazines, The Rialto. Sample poems from current issues here.
One of the UK’s liveliest online poetry magazines is Ink Sweat & Tears. Check out their pages for frequent updates of new poems by contemporary poets. Check out past winners of the Cafe Writers poetry competition for examples of the new poetry being written by poets in the UK and around the world.
Finally, take a look at the Poetry Business’ blog pages here. It includes news, competition updates, interviews and much more. Check out their New Poets Prize in particular.
We would love to hear which poetry blogs you are reading and following. Do let us know in the comments section below and we will do our best to list them.
Young Poets' Stories 