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UPRISING INSPIRED POETRY
Posted on July 23 2021
If you've been watching Steve McQueen’s powerful and heart-breaking BBC programme #Uprising about the New Cross Fire in 1981, in which thirteen young black people were killed in a house fire,...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: THREA ALMONTASER
Posted on July 16 2021
From The Wild Fox of Yemen by Threa Almontaser, published by Picador, our PBS Autumn Wild Card Choice, selected by Anthony Anaxagorou. Available to order now with 25% off for...
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MEET THREA ALMONTASER
Posted on July 16 2021
Here's a sneak preview of our interview with Threa Almontaser in our forthcoming poetry magazine: "The poetess writes to record, to hold accountability. I write to manifest Yemen in the...
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AUTUMN WILD CARD CHOICE
Posted on July 16 2021
The Yemeni American poet Threa Almontaser’s incendiary debut asks how mistranslation can be a form of self-knowledge and survival. A love letter to the country and people of Yemen, a...
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NEXT INSTA BOOK CLUB 28TH JULY
Posted on July 07 2021
Join us on 28th July at 7pm BST for the next insta live book club with Alice Hiller and Luke Kennard, hosted by PBS Selector Anthony Anaxagorou! Don't forget to...
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POLARI PRIZE & PRIDE MONTH READING RECOMMENDATIONS
Posted on June 25 2021
Many congratulations to poets Caroline Bird, Kae Tempest and Rosie Garland who were longlisted for Polari LGBTQ+ Book Prize this week. To celebrate, here are five books to read right now for Pride Month.#1 What...
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6 BOOKS TO READ ON WINDRUSH DAY
Posted on June 22 2021
Today marks 73 years since the arrival of The Empire Windrush carrying around 500 migrants from the Caribbean to help re-build post war Britain. We've gathered six poetry books which...
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FATHER'S DAY GIFT GUIDE
Posted on June 17 2021
It's Father’s Day this Sunday 20th June, so why not give the gift of poetry? Here's our poetry gift guide for bookish fathers of all kinds, to help you celebrate...
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ANNOUNCING AUTUMN!
Posted on June 11 2021
We're so excited to finally be able to reveal our Autumn 2021 Selections! After reading through lots of books from publishers big and small, our expert PBS Book Selectors Andrew McMillan, Sarah...
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FORWARD PRIZE 2021 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED
Posted on June 08 2021
Many congratulations to all the Forward Prizes for Poetry shortlistees especially PBS poets Luke Kennard, Alice Hiller, Holly Pester, Fiona Benson and Kayo Chingonyi! The 2021 Forward Prize for Best...
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POET OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCMILLAN ON PANDEMONIUM
Posted on May 27 2021
We're delighted to be able to share this exclusive blog from our PBS Selector Andrew McMillan, to celebrate the launch of his new poetry collection Pandemonium. After two prize-winning...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: LEO BOIX
Posted on May 27 2021
From our PBS Summer Wild Card Choice, Ballad of a Happy Immigrant by Leo Boix. Available here with 25% off at www.poetrybooks.co.uk.
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BALLAD OF A HAPPY IMMIGRANT
Posted on May 26 2021
Introducing our Summer Wild Card, Ballad of a Happy Immigrant by Leo Boix. In the middle of the last century, the SS General Pueyrredón from Buenos Aires deposits Leo Boix's paternal grandfather...
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WILD CARD CHOICE: LEO BOIX
Posted on May 24 2021
Our Summer Wild Card Choice is Ballad of a Happy Immigrant by Leo Boix. Here's a sneak preview of our interview with him in the Summer Bulletin. Join the PBS...
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INSTA BOOK CLUB 1ST JUNE
Posted on May 21 2021
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PORTRAIT OF COLOSSUS BY SAMATAR ELMI
Posted on May 20 2021
Here's a sneak preview of our Pamphlet Selectors Nick Makoha and Mary Jean Chan's review of Portrait of Colossus in the PBS Summer Bulletin. "A wealth of poetic influences ranging...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: ENGLAND
Posted on May 20 2021
"Not quite belonging, but the closest I will come to finding my home..." - 'England' by Samatar Elmi from Portrait of Colossus, our Summer Pamphlet Choice which is available to...
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SUMMER PAMPHLET CHOICE: SAMATAR ELMI
Posted on May 20 2021
Portrait of Colossus is a searingly forthright début poetry pamphlet, that navigates parenting, masculinity, racism and ambiguities of identity. It articulates, with skill and sly humour, the migrant experience from the...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: REBECCA PERRY
Posted on May 16 2021
‘In the immaculate garden the sunflowers rotate with the sun’ Reading Rebecca Perry’s brilliantly surreal poem with the sunflower seedlings in the not-so-immaculate yard! Order our Summer Recommendation Stone Fruit...
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SUMMER RECOMMENDATION: REBECCA PERRY
Posted on May 16 2021
A collection of three distinct parts, our Summer Recommendation Rebecca Perry's Stone Fruit is united by memory, grief and our connection to the world. Opening with a study of a girl in a miniature portrait...
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SUMMER RECOMMENDATION: STONE FRUIT BY REBECCA PERRY
Posted on May 15 2021
We can't wait to share our PBS Summer Recommendation Stone Fruit by Rebecca Perry with you! Opening with a study of a girl in a miniature portrait, expanding into lyrical...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: BIRD OF WINTER
Posted on May 14 2021
From bird of winter by Alice Hiller, our PBS Special Commendation Summer 2021. Alice Hiller’s debut performs an act of witness and restitution. Working with her childhood and adolescent medical...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: BIRD OF WINTER
Posted on May 14 2021
"bird of winter reminds us that the root of courage, etymological and otherwise, is heart. Prepare, Dear Reader, to feel." - Nuar AlsadirAlice Hiller’s debut performs an act of extraordinary witness...
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ALICE HILLER ON BIRD OF WINTER
Posted on May 14 2021
Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, anorexia "Like millions of other people around the world, I was groomed, and then sexually abused as a young child. In my case, this took place...
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10 POETRY BOOKS TO READ THIS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
Posted on May 13 2021
'Almond Blossom'This morning, love, I'm tired and grave;I can barely hear the wintered bird's small songover the hum of the central heating.We must trust, I suppose, to the song's bare...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: KAZIM ALI
Posted on May 06 2021
"Is the voice to know or to know" The 15th May is your last chance to join the Poetry Book Society in time for this innovative Summer Choice, The Voice of Sheila...
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SUMMER CHOICE: THE VOICE OF SHEILA CHANDRA
Posted on May 04 2021
In our PBS Summer Choice The Voice of Sheila Chandra —named for the British singer rendered almost voiceless by a rare neurological condition—poems give necessary space not only to voice but...
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SUMMER CHOICE: KAZIM ALI
Posted on May 03 2021
The PBS Summer Choice, Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass...
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VIRAL BY KAYO CHINGONYI
Posted on April 23 2021
“There has been a very real sense in my life that each day is not a given. And so, there are times when I’m struck by the surprising and...
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POET OF THE WEEK: KAYO CHINGONYI
Posted on April 23 2021
Our Summer Recommendation, Kayo Chingonyi was born in Zambia in 1987, and moved to the UK at the age of six. He is the author of two pamphlets, and a...
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SUMMER RECOMMENDATION: A BLOOD CONDITION
Posted on April 21 2021
Our PBS Summer Recommendation A Blood Condition is a moving, expansive, and dazzling second collection from award-winning poet Kayo ChingonyiA Blood Condition tells a story of inheritance - the people, places,...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: NOTES ON THE SONNETS
Posted on April 15 2021
Blue skies are here and we’ve officially entered our summer quarter. First up in our PBS summer recommendations is Notes on the Sonnets by Luke Kennard published by penned in...
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POEM OF THE WEEK: NOTES ON THE SONNETS
Posted on April 14 2021
From Notes on the Sonnets by Luke Kennard, PBS Summer recommendation. Available to pre-order here with 25% off.
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MEET LUKE KENNARD: PBS RECOMMENDATION
Posted on April 13 2021
"I wrote a draft of the first poem, ‘Sonnet 66’, while I was at a house party surrounded by men who work in the video games industry, none of whom...
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NEW AMANDA GORMAN BOOK RELEASED
Posted on March 31 2021
Amanda Gorman's powerful and historic poem 'The Hill We Climb,' read at President Joe Biden's inauguration, is now available as a collectible hardback gift edition. On 20 January 2021, Amanda...
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ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI OBITUARY
Posted on March 26 2021
Try to Praise the Mutilated WorldTry to praise the mutilated world.Remember June's long days,and wild strawberries, drops of rosé wine.The nettles that methodically overgrowthe abandoned homesteads of exiles.You must praise...
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MARVIN THOMPSON WINS THE NATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION
Posted on March 26 2021
Recent PBS Recommendation Marvin Thompson has won the Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition with his poem 'The Fruit of the Spirit is Love (Galatians 5:22)'. It was chosen from more than...
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NEXT INSTA BOOK CLUB: 24TH MARCH
Posted on March 15 2021
Don't miss our next Insta Book Club live on Wednesday 24th March at 7pm over on our instagram page (@poetrybooksociety), featuring readings and discussions with two of our Spring Selections,...
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HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Posted on March 08 2021
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAYFor International Women's Day we're celebrating the latest Spring releases by leading and emerging female poets. Ranging from the writings of renowned Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst to debut poet...
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MEET ISABELLE BAAFI
Posted on February 26 2021
We're delighted to introduce our Spring Pamphlet Choice, Isabelle Baafi. Isabelle Baafi is a writer and poet from London. She was the winner of the 2019 Vincent Cooper Literary Prize, and...
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POEM OF THE DAY: PLANTAIN
Posted on February 26 2021
From Ripe by Isabelle Baafi, our Spring Pamphlet Choice published by ignition press.
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SPRING PAMPHLET CHOICE
Posted on February 25 2021
'Hunger made me’, reveals one speaker in Ripe, and the desire to be satiated fills these poems. Desperate women hide grains of rice in their hair, baked beans evoke a...
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ANNOUNCING THE PBS SUMMER SELECTIONS
Posted on February 25 2021
We're so excited to reveal our Summer Selections will be: Choice: Kazim Ali, The Voice of Sheila Chandra, Platypus Press Recommendations: Rebecca Perry, Stone Fruit, Bloodaxe Nuzhat Bukhari, Brilliant...
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WATCH THE SPRING BOOK CLUB
Posted on February 25 2021
Our wonderful PBS Book Selector Andrew McMillan hosts the latest online Book Club featuring our Spring Choice Jen Hadfield and recommendation Rowan Ricardo Phillips with readings and insights into their...
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KEATS BICENTENARY
Posted on February 23 2021
200 years ago today, on the 23rd February 1821, John Keats died of TB in Rome. Unrecognised by the literary establishment in his lifetime, Keats is now one of English literature’s...
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POET OF THE WEEK: MICHAEL SYMMONS ROBERTS
Posted on February 19 2021
Here's a sneak preview from Michael Symmons Robert's interview in our Spring Bulletin. "The title Ransom came when around half the poems were finished or taking shape. The word seemed...
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POEM OF THE DAY: RANSOM
Posted on February 19 2021
"this wild, this ever-patient hope", an extract from Takk, from Ransom, our PBS Spring Recommendation by Michael Symmons Roberts.
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SPRING RECOMMENDATION: RANSOM
Posted on February 19 2021
Ransom, the new collection from Michael Symmons Roberts, is an intense and vivid exploration of liberty and limit, of what it means to be alive, and searches for the possibility...
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