Happy National Poetry Day to all our fellow poetry fans! This year's theme is "PLAY", so we've curated a collection of playful poetry anthologies for children moving through to more adult themes of life and death in Stephen Sexton's gaming inspired collection and the LGBT issues at play in Andrew McMillan's Playtime. We're giving away a FREE PBS MEMBERSHIP in our National Poetry Day prize draw. To play our membership giveaway game, simply buy any poetry book at www.poetrybooks.co.uk by MIDNIGHT on Friday 3rd October and we'll automatically enrol you in our Free Membership Prize Draw! Click on the titles to order a playful poetry book with 25% off using your member code.
The Poetry Playkit: Play with words and spark imaginations with this fun activity poetry play kit from Joseph Coelho, Children's Poet Laureate 2022–24 featuring 5000 word cards for children aged 6-9 to make their own poems.
A Poem for Every Question: Join renowned poet Brian Bilston for a hilariously playful adventure in 100 poems answering all your kids' questions about unicorns, science, pyramids and more.
Pocket Book of Pocket Poems: The irrepressibly energetic and playful A.F. Harrold brings his Pocket Book of Pocket Poems - sure to delight all readers aged 8+ with its sublime silliness.
If All the World and Love Were Young: Explore Stephen Sexton's Forward Prize winning Super-Mario inspired poetry which plays with life and death in the most heart-breaking ways.
Forward Anthology 2026: Don't miss the innovative range of poetries are at play in this year's Forward Book of Poetry 2026, hot off the press!
Playtime: Andrew McMillan's playtime takes us back to childhood and adolescent LGBT awakenings, in poems that are both playful and poignant.
Joy is My Middle Name: Our Autumn Recommendation by Sasha Debevec-McKenney is a radical, bold, joyous debut playing with the genre of confessional poetry.
Explore the full National Poetry Day collection here and play the membership giveaway game