The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

Features

Watercolour showing green grass, white flowers and two leafy trees with a light blue sky.

A lesson for all

Rowan Bell on Ukrainian-American graphic artist Paul Peter Piech and his bold illustrations of poetry
Martyn Crucefix looking at the camera. He has short brownish hair and a blue check shirt.

We are always saying goodbye

Castaway Martyn Crucefix chooses poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edward Thomas and Rainer Maria Rilke to take to his desert island
Caricature of Baudelaire. Drawn in 1911, it shows him with wavy black hair, trademark piercing eyes and a moustache.

The Censored Women of Les Fleurs du Mal

Pedro Baños Gallego on the 'forbidden' poems in Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal
A posterised image of Britney Spears.

Untitled

The Frip looks at how to find the right title for your poem (or at least not the wrong one)
Graphic with a green background showing a repeating motif of drawn black and white bicycles. It would make excellent wallpaper for a keen cyclist.

The Joy of Cycling

Our Spoken Word Editor Bruno Cooke is off round the world on two wheels. He considers the joy of cycling, in poetry.
Photo of Aaron Kent. He has brown hair and a beard.

Unicorn flavour

We talk to Aaron Kent, poet, editor, and publisher of Broken Sleep Books
Headshots of 12 reviewers. They are smiling or looking intently at the camera.

What do our new regular reviewers say?

Our new reviewers to tell us what they think about poetry and reviewing
Black and white photograph of Edgar Allan Poe. He looks intently at the camera.

How Edgar Allan Poe became the darling of the maligned and misunderstood

Scott Peeples on the weary-but-wise image of Edgar Allan Poe
Photograph of a set of dentures.

This barter of enthusiasm 7

Stephen Payne, Clare Best ands Jeremy Wikeley choose poems by Geoffrey Brock, Mark Doty and W.H. Auden
Photo of Leila Chatti looking at the camera. She has long brown hair and is wearing a black turtleneck sweater and red lipstick.

On Trying To Notice Joy

Polly Atkin on her love of tea, Teaism, and what Leila Chatti's poem 'Tea' means to her
Photo of Vanessa Kisuule standing in front of a green and purple wall. She is looking to her right and smiling.

punk ballet. Act 1. / there is more to come

Bruno Cooke profiles Bristol-based poet, writer, performer, and slam champion, Vanessa Kisuule


Photograph of Vanessa Kisuule by Jon Aitken
Stewart Sanderson standing in a field in front of the Cheviots. He is smiling.. well, why not? It looks like a great place.

Crossing the Line: Walking in the Cheviots with Dante

Stewart Sanderson considers the notion of 'crossing the line' in poetry while walking his beloved Cheviot hills