From A to Z, wherever invitations and opportunities take me. Over a week in each spring for the next decade, Simon Armitage will give readings in libraries across the UK. Using the alphabet as a guide, his Laureate’s Library Tour will involve local communities, poets and students at each stop on the journey, and will…
Poetry
The Faber Poetry Podcast: Rae Armantrout and Don Paterson
Two acclaimed award-winners join Rachael and Jack in the studio in our fourth episode of the second series: the Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Rae Armantrout and the Scottish poet Don Paterson, twice winner of the T. S Eliot Prize and recipient of all three Forward Poetry Prizes, the Costa Poetry Prize and the Queen’s Gold…
The Faber Poetry Podcast: Mary Jean Chan & Rebecca Tamás
In episode two of the new series, Rachael and Jack are joined in the studio by Mary Jean Chan and Rebecca Tamás to chat about recurring themes and preoccupations in their work – from fencing to the ecological world, the mother to the non-human. Audio postcards this week come from Paige Lewis, Peter Scupham and…
The Faber Poetry Podcast (series 2, episode 1): Joe Dunthorne & Will Harris
Woo hoo we’re back! In the first episode of the new series, Rachael and Jack discuss typewriters, ‘poety’ backpacks, ruffles and codpieces (and much more) with their studio guests Joe Dunthrone and Will Harris and feature audio postcards sent to them by Simon Armitage, Heather Christle and Isabel Galleymore. Listen to this episode and…
Hannah Sullivan’s Three Poems wins the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2018
We are delighted that Hannah Sullivan has been awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for her debut collection, Three Poems. After months of reading and deliberation, Sinéad Morrissey (Chair), Daljit Nagra and Clare Pollard chose the winner from a strong shortlist of five women and five men, with five debut collections on this…
Celebrating W. S. Graham
To mark 100 years since the birth of the poet W. S. Graham, here is a selection of images and quotations to celebrate his life and work.
All quotes, unless otherwise stated, are taken from W. S. Graham’s New Selected Poems (Faber & Faber, 2018). Cover image: W. S. Graham, with his painting on glass, in the Old Coastguard Cottage, Gurnard’s Head, 1958. Copyright © the Estate of Michael Seward Snow, 2018.
Read the poem ‘To Alexander Graham’, a poem that W. S. Graham wrote addressed to his father, in full here.
‘The Prophet’ by Ted Hughes
This is the last poem that Ted Hughes was working on before his death in 1998. It is a translation of Pushkin’s ‘The Prophet’. The Prophet Crazed by my soul’s thirst Through a dark land I staggered, And a six-winged seraph Halted me at a crossroads. With fingers of dream He touched my eye-pupils. My…
Faber Poetry Podcast episode 6: Edward Doegar & Ishion Hutchinson
In the final episode of our first series of the Faber Poetry Podcast, Rachael and Jack are joined in the studio by Edward Doegar and Ishion Hutchinson, who discuss the value of a ‘fake’ talisman and the violence and beauty that can be found in a game of marbles. Our final audio postcards of the…
Faber Poetry Podcast episode five: Holly Pester & Sam Riviere
In the penultimate episode of our first series, Rachael and Jack are joined in the studio by Holly Pester and Sam Riviere, plus a pat of butter and a set of nail clippers, which inspire conversations about poetry writing and its relationship to research, archives and procrastination. Audio postcards this episode come from Will Harris,…
Faber Poetry Podcast episode four: Wayne Holloway-Smith & Maurice Riordan
In this episode, Rachael and Jack talk fatherhood, the lyric I and the magical sound of a garden pond with their guests Wayne Holloway-Smith and Maurice Riordan and there are audio postcards from Mary Jean Chan, Kaveh Akbar and Nisha Ramayya. Show notes Studio guests WAYNE HOLLOWAY-SMITH’s first collection of poetry was…
Faber Poetry Podcast Episode Three: Richard Scott & Jane Yeh
In the third episode, Rachael and Jack chat in the studio with Richard Scott and Jane Yeh, discussing, among other things, the importance of recognising gay shame, the difference between biographical honesty and poetic honesty and a shared love for Star Trek (The Next Generation, obviously). Audio postcards this episode come from Peter Gizzi, Emily Toder…
