The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912. Its first president was Lady

Margaret Sackville Lady Margaret Sackville (24 December 1881 – 18 April 1963) was an English poet and children's author. Born at 60 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, Sackville was the youngest child of Reginald Windsor Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr. She was a secon ...

. From its current premises in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, London, The Poetry Society publishes ''

Poetry Review ''Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Emily Berry. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Motion and Maurice R ...

'', Britain's leading poetry magazine. Established in 1912, it provides a forum for poems from both new and established poets. Its current editor is the poet

Emily Berry Emily Berry (born 1981) is an English poet and writer. Emily Berry was born and raised in London and studied English literature at Leeds University, and Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. She is currently completing a PhD in C ...

, who succeeded

Maurice Riordan Maurice Riordan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, translator, and editor. Born in Lisgoold, County Cork, his poetry collections include: ''A Word from the Loki'' (1995), a largely London-based collection which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and ...

in 2017. The magazine's editor from 2005 to 2012 was

Fiona Sampson Fiona Ruth Sampson, is a British poet and writer. She is published in thirty-seven languages and has received a number of national and international awards for her writing. A former musician, Sampson has written on the links between music a ...

. There is a Poetry Café on the ground floor of the Poetry Society's premises, and performance space in the basement, rooms being available for hire.

Awards

The society organises several competitions, including the British

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award,Foyle Young Poets
The Poetry Society. The

Popescu Prize The Popescu Prize is a biennial poetry award established in 1983.Popescu Prize
, official w ...

, The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry and the

Geoffrey Dearmer Award The Geoffrey Dearmer Award is an annual poetry prize founded in 1997 and run by the Poetry Society in memory of the poet Geoffrey Dearmer (1893–1996), who at 103 was the Society's oldest member. By establishing an endowment fund, the Dearmer fami ...

. The society also ran the

Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize The Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize was awarded by the Poetry Society of London for a collection of poetry. It is named after Alice Hunt Bartlett who was the American editor of the society's ''Poetry Review'' from 1923 to 1949. The prize was establish ...

from 1986 to 1997.

References

External links

* Poetry organizations British writers' organisations 1909 establishments in the United Kingdom Arts organizations established in 1909 British poetry {{Lit-org-stub