The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

The Frip

Close up of a medlar tree showing green leaves and purple fruit.

A Community Reimagined

Chris Edgoose reviews Medlars by Geraldine Clarkson (Shearsman, 2023)
The background is waves of pink and light blue. On top is a line drawing showing hands holding a heart shape with the word 'cursed' on it.

recently i’ve been daydreaming of pete davidson

Mat Riches reviews Poems For Pete Davidson by Ella Sadie Guthrie (Broken Sleep, 2022)
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.
Woodcuts seem to be very popular as illustrations for poetry book covers. This looks like it is indeed a woodcut (or a clever imposter).Predominantly blue it shows a night scene with a moon and a path leading to a house in the hills.

Rare is this wrought-work

Carl Tomlinson reviews Earth House by Matthew Hollis (Bloodaxe, 2023)
Section of book cover, red background with parts of letters in black and white.

Limos : acceptance, smirom : peace

Maggie Mackay reviews Didicoy by Karen Downs-Barton (Smith|Doorstop Books, 2023)
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
Big white text on a black background. Parts of the words "The" and "Big" . Its striking if you like that monochrome block capitals kind of thing.

Meanwhile in Camelot

Helena Nelson reviews The Big Calls by Glyn Maxwell (Live Canon, 2023)
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
Section of the book cover. What looks like rows of small squareish woodblock shapes in pinky red on a yellow background.

Inside fire what you get is fire

Victoria Moul reviews Heritage Aesthetics by Anthony Anaxagorou (Granta, 2022)
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