Poem of the month
Robert Minhinnick
Eavesdropping
4 a.m.
and the swifts
over the house in the disappearing
dark, the swifts open-mouthed, ten,
twenty of them, thirty swifts now
and in every open-mouthed swift I picture
a heart the size of a hawthorn berry,
blood red to bursting those swift hearts,
thirty hearts in thirty swifts
over the house this morning where I stand
naked at the window, listening to my own heart –
perhaps the closest I will get to prayer –
and eavesdropping on the silence of the morning
where every swift is a black new moon upon the black mosque of the air.
© Robert Minhinnick. Taken from King Driftwood, due to be published by Carcanet in August. Used by permission.
See Robert Minhinnick talking about the influence Derek Walcott has had on his work on 22 May
More poems on this site.
Poetry Society events
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Poetry Society Media Room
Poetry Society podcasts
Listen to Sinéad Morrissey read her winning poem 'Through the Square Window', as well as other highlights of the National Poetry Competition 2007 prizegiving, which took place on March 27th 2008, at the October Gallery.
You can now watch Nikola Mijović's film about the Poetry Day at Buckingham Palace, featuring 28 poets, almost 200 schoolchildren from around London and the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion.
In 2007 we recorded various interviews and readings for all our competitions and publications. They are now all available to listen to from our Audio Archive.
Fiona Sampson talks about the latest volume of Poetry Review, On Pleasure.
Eva Gerlach reads featured poems from the Poetry Review autumn issue supplement Contemporary Dutch Poets.
Several of our Foyle Young Poets 2007 are interviewed about winning this year's competition.
Poetry Review Editor, Fiona Sampson is interviewed by Scott Morris, about the summer issue, 97:2 – Ars poetica.
Londonwide Youth Slam Championship held at City Hall Assembly Chambers, in association with the Mayor of London.
Three heats of the Londonwide Youth Slam Championship in theatres around London.
Audio poems and podcasts from the winners and judges of the 2006 National Poetry Competition prizegiving.
Poetry in the news
2 May
Novels by the award-winning poets John Burnside and Gee Williams are both on the shortlist for this year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
22 April
Poet Dannie Abse's memoir, The Presence (Hutchinson), is on the shortlist for the English Pen/Ackerley prize. The winner will be announced on 10 June.
21 Apr
The shortlist for the International Griffin Poetry Prize comprises John Ashbery, Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems (HarperCollins Publishers/Ecco); David Harsent, Selected Poems 1969-2005 (Faber); Elaine Equi, Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House Press); Clayton Eshleman, translating from the Spanish by César Vallejo, The Complete Poetry: A Bilingual Edition
(University of California Press). The winner of the C$50,000 prize will be announced on 4 June 2008.
15 Apr
The Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition 2008 is now open for entries! This year's judges are Frieda Hughes, Jack Mapanje and Brian Patten. Find out more.
8 Apr
We are extremely sad and sorry to report that poet, writer and dramatist E.A. Markham has died (on 23 March, in Paris). His memoir, Against the Grain, is due out soon from Peepal Tree Press and a Selected Poems was published by Salt in 2003. E.A. Markham was a judge for the Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition 2007.
4 Apr
Sinead Morrissey appears on The Verb Friday 4 April at 21.45 on BBC Radio 3; she reads her award winning poem 'Through The Square Window' and talks about it with Ian McMillan.
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