The Frip

A fancy proscenium arch on a stage in gold and red. Underneath on the stage are a man and a woman in Arabic dress.

Poetry for the people

Bruno Cooke investigates Million's Poet, a reality television show in the UAE with massive cash prizes

The Manuscripts of Emily Dickinson

Mike Kelly explores highlights from the Amherst College Emily Dickinson collection

black and white photograph of a park bench. There is a small backpack on one end. A glass and a bottle are nearby.

Embraceable You

Stephen Payne reviews Last Poems? by Brendan Cleary (Tall Lighthouse Press, 2023)

A drawing in green on an off-white background. Looks a bit like a musical instrument, could be a mandolin or maybe a lyre.

La vigne fait maille pour maille

Victoria Moul reviews Rainer Maria Rilke, Change Your Life. Essential Poems, selected, translated and introduced by Martyn Crucefix (Pushkin Press Classics, 2024).

The complete story

Nadia Kabir Barb gives us The Whole Kahani, a collective of British fiction writers of South Asian origin

Photos of Nell and Hilary. Both looking studious.

Five Forward poems under the microscope

Helena Nelson and Hilary Menos discuss the five poems shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (Written)

A window at night with twilight streaming through. Or it could be a streetlight. Twilight is more poetic though, innit?

The art of loneliness

Annie Fisher reviews Night Window by Ian Seed (Shearsman, 2024)

Graphic showing an orange circle on a yellow background. A yellow shape like a small lightbulb dangles into the top of the circle.

O linger Sapphos of the lash-line!

Alan Buckley reviews PLUS ULTRA by Sarah Fletcher (CHEERIO, 2023)

A pink square-shaped speech bubble on a dark blue background.

The hairier I am, the sexier I feel

Bruno Cooke ranks the five poems shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed 2024

The word 'MISSING' in white block capitals superimposed on a photo of the back of a red brick house, two sash windows, overgrown with foliage from the garden.

Oboes, pine cones, pangolins

Jane Routh reviews Missing the Man Next Door by Annie Fisher (Mariscat, 2024)

A tangle of snow covered beaches, a small red bird sits on one, from a distance it could be mistaken for a heart.

I with my mother became we

Maggie Mackay reviews Grief’s Alphabet by Carrie Etter (Seren, 2024)

A landscape photograph showing grass, a cloudy sky and a small crenelated building with a tower that looks like a lighthouse, but is presumably a camera obscura

The strong verbs

Helena Nelson reviews Camera Obscura by Philip Rush (Garlic Press, 2023)