National Poetry Day takes place on Thursday 6 October 2022 to encourage everyone to share poetry with family and friends. The campaign aims to foster our love of language, showcase new voices, and promote the role poetry can play in our lives.
To kickstart the campaign this year, here’s some Hull poets you may want to discover on National Poetry Day 2022:
Philip Larkin
Born in Coventry, Philip Larkin is one of Hull’s most famous adopted sons. A former University of Hull librarian, his influence has been cemented locally with a walking trail and a statue in Paragon Interchange.
His poetry won several accolades over the years, including a Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, and regularly referenced the time he spent in the city within his work.
Discover the work of Philip Larkin by visiting the Philip Larkin Society website.
Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell was a poet and politician who was born in the region in the 1600s. His poetry was initially overlooked until the mid-nineteenth century where it began to become widely appreciated.
You can also find a statue of him in Trinity Square, outside the old grammar school that he attended as a child.
Read one of his most famous poems, “To His Coy Mistress”, on the Poetry Foundation website.
Dean Wilson
Writing poetry since he was 15, he loves making people laugh and is all about making life better. He released his first volume of poems on Wrecking Ball Press and followed this up with two more equally-popular books.
In addition to his ‘Pebble of the Day’ and new poems, he has also worked with local filmmaker Dave Lee on films of his poetry, life and art.
Read some his work by visiting the official Dean Wilson website,.
Stevie Smith
Born in 1902, Stevie Smith published several collections of short prose and letters and nearly a dozen volumes of verse.
Although the nursery-rhyme-like cadences of her poems and the whimsical drawings which she illustrated them suggested a child’s innocence, Stevie Smith was a sophisticated poet, whose work was much concerned with suffering and mortality.
Read one of Stevie Smith’s most famous poems, “Not Waving, But Drowning”, on the Poetry Foundation website.
Shane Rhodes
Shane Rhodes is known for ‘The City Speaks’, the poem that opened Hull’s UK City of Culture celebrations in 2017 and is engraved in Queen Victoria Square.
Speaking about the ‘The City Speaks’, he said, “The poem’s themes of identity and sense of place have struck a chord and have given voice to a sense of pride in the city. In essence, it is my love poem to Hull”.
Discover the limited-edition book of The City Speaks on the Wrecking Ball Press website.
Vicky Foster
Vicky Foster is a performer and poet who has featured on multiple national BBC radio stations and BBC Radio Humberside. Her poem for the Commonwealth Games 2018 was also part of the BBC’s national radio coverage.
Her radio performances led to her being selected for Radio 4’s Pick of the Week. She also wrote a poem inspired by Hull’s Whitefriargate for National Poetry Day last year.
Read some of Vicky Fosters work on her official website.
For more information on National Poetry Day 2022, visit the official National Day Poetry website.
