The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

Features

Photo of Suzannah Evans, she has shoulder length brown hair, glasses and a light blue shirt with pictures of birds on.

Castaway Companions

Castaway Poet Suzannah Evans chooses poems by Ian McMillan, Marie Howe and Tony Hoagland to take to a desert island
A man and a woman in period costume from around the 1600s by the look of the wig. They are standing either side of a chemists wooden counter and red smoke billows in the air

Collaboration and Transformation II

Clare Best on collaborating with composers and musicians, translators and book designers


Photo credit: Guildhall School of Music & Drama
A background of the stock exchange with the words "The economist can tell you about your bank balance, but the poet has a window into your soul" superimposed

Like worms on the corruption in which they are bred

Hilary Menos reviews The Poets’ Guide to Economics by John Ramsden (Pallas Athene, 2022)
a black and white portrait of Clare, she is turned from the camera, scar tissue is visible were her breasts were

Collaboration and Transformation I

Clare Best on her experiences of collaborative artistic work



Photo by Laura Stevens
A tiny man defending himself from a large and dangerous looking cat! Its a poster image from the film " The Incredible Shrinking Man"

After the first phase, after the great fall

In the first of a new series of close readings, Hilary Menos unpacks the poem ‘Incredible’ by Simon Armitage
Some mangoes in a basket, and one loose on some large yellowish rocks

The grief I cast is for me

Matthew Paul celebrates the life and poetry of Ted Walker
photo of Sharon, she has dark hair and is smiling

The poet has to have the last word

We talk to Sharon Black, editor of Pindrop Press, about the impact of Brexit, living and writing in two languages, and what’s new with Pindrop
Tom is dressed in, I dunno, cellophane maybe? the background is broadly pink and they have a hat that resembles a chicken carcasse

Sky blue pink

Bruno Cooke on the many faces of artist, poet and social worker Tom Stockley


Photo by Will Thomas
headshots of our twelve reviewers, what a happy bunch!

What do our regular reviewers say?

This month, to celebrate a year of voicing opinion, we asked our reviewers to tell us a bit about how, when and why they came to write / review poetry, and what they do when they just can’t get on with writing a Friday Poem review
A paper cut out of Taras Shevchenko's house. the roof is red and there is a dormer window in the roof , it looks traditional, there is a more modern building in the background and grass in the foreground

Testament

Christopher James has made a paper cut-up of the Kyiv home of Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko
Picture of Anne she has long blond hair and is smiling, there is a blurred painting in the background

Castaway Companions

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
black and white portrait of Jane, head tilted, blond hair, glasses with white and grey striped frames, and a smile

A Poem Begins

Lyric Essay: A Poem Begins, by Jane Burn