Castaway Companions

We asked poets to choose three poems which they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. We wanted to know where they first read them, why they have particular significance and how they have impacted their own work. Read their responses — funny, moving and eloquent.

Photo of Jill Abram. She has long curly hair and is standing in front of trees.

Jill Abram chooses poems by Edward Lear, Lemn Sissay and Jacqueline Saphra to take to her desert island

Photo of Vanessa Lampert. She is wearing a blue jacket and smiling. She has shoulder length grey hair.

Vanessa Lampert chooses poems by Matthew Dickman, Dorianne Laux and Karen Solie for her desert island

Head and shoulders photo of Rachael. She has short brown hair and glasses. She has her baby daughter in a sling across her chest.

Castaway poet Rachael Matthews choses poems by Jennifer L Knox, Adrienne Rich, and Kathleen Jamie for her desert island stay

Greta Stoddart looking directly at the camera, smiling. She has brown hair with a grey streak and she's wearing a black shirt with small blue and red flowers on.

Castaway poet Greta Stoddart choses poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Raymond Carver and Czeslaw Milosz for her desert island stay

Picture of Anne she has long blond hair and is smiling, there is a blurred painting in the background

Castaway poet Anne Rouse chooses poems by H.D. and Yeats, and Helen Waddell’s translation of ‘Die Christi Veritas’, to take to a desert island

Photo of Sarah, she has short dark brown hair and is wearing a thin blue scarf and a blue linen top.

Castaway poet Sarah Wimbush chooses poems by Ted Hughes, Liz Berry and Paul Bentley to take to a desert island

Julia Bird holding her book, she has medium length brown hair and is wearing a purple faux fur coat with a yellow wool scarf. she is standing in front of a white wall.

Castaway poet Julia Bird chooses three poems by Michael Donaghy, Eileen Pun and John Keats to take to a desert island

Anne-Marie Fyfe sitting on a wooden boardwalk in Massachusetts. Wearing a red jacket and a white scarf with dark blue stars around her neck.

Castaway poet Anne-Marie Fyfe chooses three poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop to take to a desert island

Black and white photo of Ben Wilkinson, a young friendly looking man with glasses

Castaway poet Ben Wilkinson chooses three poems by Louis MacNeice, Stevie Smith and John Keats to take to a desert island

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