The Poetry Archive holds thousands of poems by hundreds of poets, with many hours of poetry still locked away in archives. We aim to make our poetry accessible to everyone. Our Volunteers to help us to ensure that our collections are well documented, factually true, accessible, clear, and enjoyable to all.  Your support as a Volunteer will significantly impact on the quality of the Archive collections, and you will also gain knowledge, skills and expertise around the significance and value of poetry and archives.

Volunteers for the Poetry of India Project

In our search for wider representation to become a truly diverse and contemporary global poetry community, we are now focusing on our latest initiative, the Poetry of India Collection. This Project hopes to bring together a carefully curated list of contemporary poets from the Indian subcontinent, who define the vast and diverse landscape of modern-day post-Independence India from across the 20th century to the present day.

For more information on the project and the volunteer roles we’re offering, click here to read our Volunteer Handbook.

If you’re interested in volunteering on this project, click here to submit an application.

For queries on the handbook, please email our Volunteer Manager, Devi Chatterjee on volunteer@poetryarchive.org or our Administrator, Maggie Sullivan on admin@poetryarchive.org.

Volunteer Roles at the Archive:

As a Web Researcher you will spend time exploring through our entire website collections to ensure they remain in the best possible shape. Our Researchers notice when our biographies are out of date, or when links on our websites are not working. They keep a look out for out-of-date or incorrect information, and they help us fix it by alerting us to the issue.

As a Transcriber you will help us to transcribe the many hours of recordings that we hold in our collections by listening to the recordings and writing what you hear.  There are free transcribing apps and software available, however as this technology is often inaccurate, our transcribers ensure we proof read everything we transcribe in this way.

As a Biographer you will investigate, research and compile biographies and bibliographies of new poets to our site, or updates of older pages of information – drawing on sources such as libraries, online searches, social media, related literature and publishers.

All volunteers will receive onboard training. You will be asked to sign a volunteer agreement to ensure we have provided you with all the support, information and access that you need. Our Volunteer Manager will be available to contact and support you. We aim to make your experiences fun inspiring for you.

Thank you for you interest in the Poetry Archive.