Picture credit Southampton Pride/Brooke Linnet. Running until Sunday, Shirley Fringe is a community event that showcases talented local performers, while raising vital funds for charities. This year young people’s charity No Limits, which offers free advice, support and help to children and young people under 26 is benefiting from...
Articles with the Tag poetry
Winchester Poetry Festival events this autumn
Winchester Poetry Festival has three excellent poetry events coming up. The first is Everyday Histories ‘wordshop’ with the Hampshire Poet for Winchester Heritage Open Days. It takes place at The Pilgrims’ Hall, Winchester on Saturday 19th September | from 10:30am-12pm. Damian Kelly-Basher, invites you to turn ordinary stories into...
Poetry: review of Love in the Shadows by Andrew Buchanan
By Anita Foxall. Andrew Buchanan’s new poetry collection Love in the Shadows is an evocative and beautiful depiction of love and secrecy. It moves from intimacy and impermanence to affection and acknowledging the darkness that sometimes come with it. There is a deep melancholia central to the book from the Southampton...
Placeholder Poetry returns to Southampton
Left-field poetry performances return to Southampton courtesy of Placeholder and Wire Wool Events. Wire Wool Events and Placeholder Poetry return after a short sabbatical for the eighth instalment of their hugely popular poetry evening held at The Bookshop Alehouse, Southampton. On Thursday 23rd July three unique poetic voices will...
Hampshire Young Poets competition is open – and on the theme of food
Hampshire Young Poets competition 2026 is open until 22nd May, with prizes to be won. Young people from across Hampshire are invited to write a poem of no more than 14 lines on this year’s theme of food. The rustle of a bag of crisps in a silent movie...
Review: Artfulscribe’s LitFest – Mayflower Studios, Southampton
By Anita Foxall. The annual LitFest, organised by Artfulscribe, has firmly established itself as one of Southampton’s cultural highlights, and this year once again delivered a weekend rich with literature, and written and spoken word (13-15/3/26). The University of Southampton, supporter and sponsor of the LitFest, curated the opening...
Poetry collection review: Suburban Locust by Antosh Wojcik
By Anita Foxall. For anyone familiar with Antosh Wojcik’s central presence on the poetry scene, the arrival of his debut collection Suburban Locust has been highly anticipated. Antosh is an incredibly skilled poet and these poems are undoubtedly masterfully crafted. The collection unfolds as a surreal, storm-ridden family chronicle...
Winchester Poetry Prize 2026 is open
Winchester Poetry Festival opens its globally recognised Winchester Poetry Prize for 2026. Winchester Poetry Festival invites writers from around the globe to submit their finest, unpublished poems to be in with a chance of winning £1000 in the annual Winchester Poetry Prize. Established in 2016, this literary competition has...
Poetry: Southampton poets Anita Foxall and Chris Davie
By Anita Foxall. It’s time to bring you more poets and poetry, and on this occasion, I’ll be sharing some of my own work as well. Writing has always been a part of me. I first immersed myself in the depths of short stories, only to find, almost unknowingly,...
Book review: Modern Poetry & Frank: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss
By Anita Foxall. Modern Poetry and Frank: Sonnets were my first encounters with Diane Seuss’s poetry, both Fitzcarraldo Editions published in February this year which I picked up from Southampton’s own October Books. This Michigan born poet grabbed my attention as soon as I started reading the first...