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Explore poetry using our special collections. Curated around specific themes and forms, these collections bring you the wealth of poetry available in the Archive.

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Guided Tour

Celebrating 100 years of poetry on the BBC with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage

Guided Tour

We’ve teamed up with the National Poetry Library to bring you this guided tour of The Poetry Archive. In this tour, members of the National Poetry Library team, Chris McCabe, Lorraine Mariner and Will René, walk you through their favourites within our collections.

Guided Tour

Celebrating 20 Years of the Archive with Co-Founder Richard Carrington

Guided Tour

“I had the great joy of being part of the creative team for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics – a multi-media extravaganza that was streamed, tweeted, favourited and blogged about across the planet. For all its noise and…

Guided Tour

“I’ve avoided poems that other writers here have recommended, but which otherwise would certainly have been on my list (such as Richard Wilbur’s superb ‘A Barred Owl’, chosen by Andrew Motion). There are also some astonishing recordings in the historical…

Guided Tour

“Since I spend much of my time rooting around in the eighteenth century, this is where I headed first. Hearing poems from long ago brought to life by poets from our own age is peculiarly fascinating. The doubling-up of voices…

Guided Tour

“On my initial visit to the Poetry Archive, the historical recordings caught my attention first. I did not know that recordings of Tennyson, for instance, existed. Although some of the following lines were a little indistinct, it was incredibly exciting…

Guided Tour

“As a secondary schoolteacher in London for the past thirty years, it has been my privilege to have had a job which at its core, involves getting teenagers to fall in love with poetry. I have made my selection for…

Guided Tour

“I really enjoyed listening to all the poems in the Archive. It’s fantastic to hear poets reading their own work. It took me a long time to choose my favourites – I think it would be much easier to choose…

Guided Tour

“The writer and broadcaster Clive James introduces a few of his favourite poems in the Poetry Archive.”  

Guided Tour

“Poetry happens at a sort of junction in the mind when new combinations start up, words and pictures start connecting in unexpected ways. It takes you into what can feel like anarchic territory, and that’s one reason for trying to…

Guided Tour

“I love this archive. It’s an important reminder that all literature has its roots in the human voice. Black print on white paper is not remote and abstract stuff but grows out from ‘ordinary’ language, is linked to stories told…

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