A Poet in Every Port

To mark our 75th anniversary, we’re taking the celebrations beyond our base on London’s South Bank and out across the UK

Leading these celebrations is A Poet in Every Port, a national project celebrating poetry in coastal communities across the UK.

Inspired by the spirit of the 1951 Festival of Britain, a nationwide celebration of arts, design, science, technology and culture that also led to the creation of the Southbank Centre, A Poet in Every Port, is off on the road between May and September, visiting 11 coastal towns and cities in a specially designed Mobile Poetry Library.

Through free public events, workshops and poetry readings A Poet in Every Port sees the Southbank Centre working hand in hand with regional partners and poets across the four nations. Together we’re helping to nurture local voices and celebrate the incredible poetry projects already thriving in each of the communities we visit.

And, even if you’re not in one of the towns or cities our Mobile Poetry Library is calling at, you can still connect with A Poet in Every Port, by taking place in our Word Exchange poetry competition, or downloading our teaching resources.

The ambassador for A Poet in Every Port is celebrated poet, Roger McGough who launches the tour in Great Yarmouth on 29 May, and joins at further stops along the tour. A Poet in Every Port will also play a part in Poetry International, here at the Southbank Centre on 12 July.

New Poets Collective

Launched in 2021, New Poets Collective, is an annual Southbank Centre initiative – co-facilitated by Vanessa Kisuule and Will Harris – to nurture and showcase emerging voices.

Throughout A Poet in Every Port our New Poets Collective is made up of poets from each of the tour’s locations; poets who’ll work closely with their communities to tell stories, celebrate local dialects and languages, and show that poetry is for everyone.

The destinations

The Word Exchange competition

An over-the-shoulder shot of a blonde woman in a pinstripe blazer reading an open book in front of colourful library shelves.

Enter our Word Exchange poetry competition

Try your hand at a Word Exchange poem and you could find yourself performing at our 2027 London Literature Festival.

A Poet in Every Port teaching resource

A person with curly hair and a patterned fleece jacket arranges word magnets on a white magnetic board.

A Poet in Every Port teaching resources

Whether you’re in a coastal community or miles from the sea, see how you can continue the spirit of A Poet in Every Port in the classroom.

Join the National Poetry Library

A row of mobile library shelving units displaying a color gradient from orange to blue, each with a mechanical rotating handle.

Join the National Poetry Library

Inspired by a visit to our Mobile Poetry Library? Why not become a member of the National Poetry Library? It’s free to join across the UK.

The poets

Roger McGough

Poet, performer and broadcaster Roger McGough has published over 100 poetry books for adults and children. He first came to prominence with 1967’s The Mersey Sound, an anthology of poetry by McGough and fellow Liverpool poets Adrian Henri and Brian Patten; it remains one of the all-time bestselling poetry anthologies. In the same decade he formed The Scaffold with John Gorman and Mike McGear, enjoying several top 20 hits, most notably the UK number one, ‘Lily the Pink’. A Fellow of The Royal Society and President of The Poetry Society, he presents the popular Radio 4 series Poetry Please. McGough received the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2001, and in 2004 was awarded a CBE.
Read an interview with Roger McGough