Summer School 2010

The 7th Tower Poetry Summer School (24-27 August) for young poets aged 18-23 will be held in Christ Church Oxford.

 

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Competition 2010

The Christopher Tower Poetry Competition, the UK's most valuable prize for young poets, is once again open for entries, and this year students between 16-18 years of age are challenged to write a poem on the theme of 'Promises'

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Tower Poetry,
Christ Church,
Oxford, OX1 1DP
Tel: 01865 286591
or contact us >

Useful links

We hope that the Tower Poetry website will act as a springboard to finding out more about poetry from other sources. The list below gives a good starting point for those interested in reading and writing poetry. Our thanks go to Emily Middleton for providing many of the contemporary links.

Arts Festival sites

The Poetry Trust

www.thepoetrytrust.org
Delivers from Suffolk a year-round live and digital programme, creative education opportunities, courses, prizes and publications.

The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival

www.oxfordliteraryfestival.com
Held annually in spring, there are children and schools events as well as creative writing programmes.

Competitions

The John Betjeman Young People's Poetry Competition

www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com

The John Betjeman Young People's Poetry Competition Open to 11-14 year-olds living in the British Isles. Entrants are limited to one poem each about their local surroundings. Entries by 31st July.

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award
www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/fyp
Poetry prize organised by the Poetry Society for writers aged 11-17.
Manchester Poetry Prize

www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/poetry
Includes a £200 prize for 18-25 year-olds.

Magazines

The Cadaverine
www.thecadaverine.com
An online magazine showcasing creative work from writers under 25.
The Poetry Kit

www.poetrykit.org
A comprehensive online resource for poets including listings of competitions, courses and events.
Pomegranate Poetry

www.pomegranate.me.uk
Online zine celebrating and publishing the best new poetry from young writers, which also hosts an active poetry forum.
Oxford Poetry

www.oxfordpoetry.co.uk
Published twice a year, Oxford Poetry is the oldest poetry magazine in the world.
The Gallery Press

www.gallerypress.com
Publishes poetry, drama and prose by some of Ireland's leading contemporary writers.
Signals

www.signalsmagazine.co.uk
Interviews, reviews and poetry

Oxford connections

Christ Church, Oxford
www.chch.ox.ac.uk
Home of Tower Poetry
Clutag Press

www.clutagpress.com
A small but prestigious poetry press sponsored, in part, by Tower Poetry
Oxford University

www.ox.ac.uk
Check it out for poetry debates and the Professor of Poetry’s public lectures each term
Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre

http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/poetry
For research and discussion of issues surrounding C20th and C21st poetry; to promote poetry in the local community and to encourage connections between poets, academics and readers of poetry.

Resources for poets

Every Poet
www.everypoet.com
Includes an online forum and classic poems.
The Guardian Poetry Workshop

books.guardian.co.uk/poetryworkshop
Each month a different poet sets a writing exercise and chooses their favourite responses.
Poetry Landmarks

www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/landmarks
Features a clickable map with details of hundreds of poetry bookshops, events, libraries, publishers and magazines in different regions.
Poetry Magazines

www.poetrymagazines.org.uk
An archive of 20th and 21st century UK poetry magazines.
Poetry Portal

www.poetry-portal.com
‘A directory of worldwide poetry online’, this website offers literally hundreds of links to competitions, publishers, e-zines and poetry sites based in many different areas of the world.
The Poetry Tool

www.bbc.co.uk/blast/writing/tipsandtools/poetryengine/index.shtml
An online tool that lets you mix and edit poems.
Glossary of Poetic Terms

www.poeticbyway.com/glossary2.html
Rhyming Dictionary

www.rhymezone.com
Poetry Out Loud

www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/index.shtml
Historical poetry recordings.
YoungPoets.ca

www.youngpoets.ca
Featuring poems from young Canadian poets.

Resources for Teachers

Poetry Class
www.poetryclass.net
Taking the fear out of teaching poetry
English Association Poetry

www.le.ac.uk/engassoc/poetry.html
This is a new site from the English Association dedicated to the teaching of poetry. It has been developed with the encouragement of the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as an outcome of its English 21 exercise.
The Poetry Society

www.poetrysociety.org.uk
A great site for events, publications, café in London, promotions and prizes
The Saison Poetry Library

www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/about
Housing the Arts Council Collection at South Bank Centre, London
The Scottish Poetry Library

www.spl.org.uk
The place for poetry in Scotland, for the regular reader, the serious student or the casual browser
The British Library

www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/literature/poetry/poetry.html
Find pages written by the BL’s experts on poetry
Pirandello

www.pirandello.org.uk
Pirandello and New Writing South aim to create an environment in the south of England in which creative writers and new writing can flourish
The Poetry Archive

www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive
The Poetry Archive is the world's premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.
Poetry Book Society

www.poetrybooks.co.uk/
Founded by T S Eliot in 1953, the PBS provides information, advice and discounts on poetry books
BBC Poetry Season

www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/
Teachit

www.teachit.co.uk/poetry.asp
An English teaching online site with almost 12,000 resources

 

About Tower Poetry

Tower Poetry exists to encourage and challenge everyone who reads or writes poetry. Funded by a generous bequest to Christ Church, Oxford, by the late Christopher Tower, the aims of Tower Poetry are clear: to stimulate an enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. Creative writing should be a central element in literary education, and learning about writing poetry can help students to think about ways of reading poetry.

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Publications

ChangePromises:
The Christopher Tower Poetry Prize Winners 2010 (Digital Edition)

The winning poems from the 2010 prize are brought together in this exclusive digital-only edition.