National Poetry Day is a British campaign to promote poetry, including public performances. Annually, on the first Thursday of October, events, readings and performances take place across the UK.
National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by William Sieghart. Since its inception, it has engaged millions of people across the country with live events, classroom activities and broadcasts. National Poetry Day is coordinated by the charity Forward Arts Foundation, whose mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience; its other projects include the Forward Prizes for Poetry. The day is run in collaboration with partners including Arts Council England, Literature Wales, Poet in the City, the Southbank Centre, The Poetry Book Society, The Poetry Society, The Scottish Poetry Library, Poetry By Heart and The Poetry School.
Prince Charles performed in the 2016 National Poetry Day, reading Seamus Heaney's "The Shipping Forecast". In 2015, National Poetry Day poems were included in the Blackpool Illuminations. In 2020, BT commissioned Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to write "Something Clicked", a reflection on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
History National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by William Sieghart, who said: "There are millions of talented poets out there and it's about time they got some recognition for their work. They shouldn’t be embarrassed about reading their work out aloud. I want people to read poetry on the bus on their way to work, in the street, in school and in the pub." National Poetry Day is celebrated around the UK. In 1994, the Radio Times wrote: "National Poetry Day has been created to prove that poetry has a place in everyone's life. From children chanting to advertising jingles and pop songs, it is used to entertain and communicate across the nation."
The Belfast Newsletter reported, "National Poetry Day swept Ulster yesterday, transforming ordinary citizens into part-time bards or budding Heaneys or Wordsworths." The Daily Telegraph reported that in London at Waterloo Station, "The announcement boards were given over to poems about trains by T. S. Eliot and Auden." The Times reported Chris Meade, then director of the Poetry Society, as saying: "Readers are finding a place for poetry in their lives again. You can read one between stations on the Northern Line. It fits well into the modern experience." The East Anglian Daily Times reported, "National Poetry Day was the cue for a stanza bonanza, with railway stations, classrooms, theatres and supermarkets bursting with verse and echoing to epics".
Themes Since 1999, National Poetry Day has been loosely “themed”. A list of previous themes is below:
2026: Wonder 2025: Play 2024: Counting 2023: Refuge 2022: The Environment 2021: Choice 2020: Vision 2019: Truth 2018: Change 2017: Freedom 2016: Messages 2015: Light 2014: Remember 2013: Water, water everywhere 2012: Stars 2011: Games 2010: Home 2009: Heroes and Heroines 2008: Work 2007: Dreams 2006: Identity 2005: The Future 2004: Food 2003: Britain 2002: Celebration 2001: Journeys 2000: Fresh Voices 1999: Song Lyrics
See also National Poetry Month - a similar event in the United States National Poetry Day in the United States - celebrated on October 15 since 1947 World Poetry Day
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