New poetry anthology to celebrate National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day is an annual celebration that encourages all to enjoy, discover and share poetry, in all of its magnificent forms. It was founded in 1994 by the charity Forward Arts Foundation, whose mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience. The Day enjoys the support of the BBC, Arts Council England and leading literary and cultural organisations, alongside booksellers, publishers, libraries and schools.

We’ve put together a new anthology, ‘The Road Not Taken’ in association with Forward Arts Foundation, exploring this year’s theme of Choice. You can download the anthology for free here.

The poems we’ve selected explore ideas of freedom and free will, how we choose to express ourselves, how we learn to live with the choices we make and how they shape our lives and personalities.

As well as releasing this anthology, we’re also hosting a National Poetry Day event on the evening of 7^th October, where you can either join us online (Zoom) or in-person at the Mansion House. ‘Choose Your Own Poetry Path’ will be an evening of literary discovery and exploration, where we discuss ideas around ‘Choice’.

In keeping with the theme, there’ll be a selection of Shared Reading workshops to enter into, offering your own personal pathway into the world of poetry. You’ll go to two workshops on the evening – both of which you’ll get to choose on the night. We’re offering tickets on a ‘pay as you feel’ basis, so everyone can enjoy our reading experiences.

Staff and volunteers at The Reader bring poetry to life every week by reading them aloud for the Featured Poem posts – look out for them on our social media accounts. In recent posts, staff have been reading from ‘The Road Not Taken’ anthology – watch, listen and enjoy them here.

Here's Frances Macmillan reading Rebus by Jane Hirshfield, which is included in the new anthology.