Modern Poetry and the Pylon Poets In 1936 W.B. Yeats was invited by the BBC to give its 18th National Lecture, on the subject of ‘Modern Poetry’. During the broadcast he confessed that he ...

A Departure from Convention The BBC began the new decade with a new format for poetry programmes. ‘The Living Poet’, which ran until the early 1990s, would feature a single poet ...

The Early Years We sometimes imagine, looking back, that change happens overnight. The BBC’s first Director-General John Reith, predicted that ‘broadcasting is a development with which the future ...

Year One of a New Era The year that the BBC was founded was also a famous year for modern literature, seeing the publication of Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Both ...

Richard Berengarten    Distinctions, etc.  1961 ― The Transatlantic Review, prize in national short story competition  1962 ― Co-founded Oxbridge student magazine Carcanet   1969 ― Arts Council ...

To celebrate Pride and the publication of 100 Queer Poems, edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan, ‘Speak its name’ is a collection of contemporary and twentieth-century voices by queer ...

YOUR FEEDBACK CAN HELP TO SECURE OUR FUTURE IN JUST 5 MINUTES    As a charity, the Poetry Archive wouldn’t be here without raising funds – but did you know your feedback can also help us to ...

Poets Rachel Long and Inua Ellams discuss how Inua names his poems, his writing process, and why he cherishes language. Listen to the conversation here or read the transcript.     ...

Nick Makoha talks to Malika Booker, Keith Jarrett and Raymond Antrobus about their inspirations and what keeps them going as poets. Listen to the audio of their conversations here, or read the ...

Notes from our Director, Dr Tracey Guiry When a poet dies without being recorded, a unique voice and slice of social history is lost forever and that loss is felt more keenly as time passes. Our ...