National Poetry Day

What does a whole nation celebrating poetry actually look like? It looks like readings, performances, workshops, and events held in schools, pubs, arts centres, bookshops, libraries, buses, trains, and Women’s Institutes from one end of the country to the other. Poems are projected onto buildings, read aloud on the morning commute, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and shared millions of times online. It is the single most visible moment in the poetry calendar, and it is deliberately, joyfully public: poetry not as something locked in a classroom, but as something alive in the streets.

The day began in 1994 with a simple wish from William Sieghart, the publisher and philanthropist who founded it. He wanted people reading poetry on the bus on their way to work, in the street, in school, and in the pub, and he believed the country’s talented poets deserved far more recognition than they were getting. That first National Poetry Day put verse in front of commuters, including a burst of poetry at Waterloo Station, and it struck a chord that has been ringing ever since.

Sieghart had already established the Forward Prizes for Poetry in 1992 to raise the profile of contemporary poetry, and the Forward Arts Foundation was set up in 1995 as a registered charity to administer both the Prizes and National Poetry Day. The Foundation’s mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and widen its audience, and National Poetry Day is the day that mission steps out into the open. It is run in collaboration with an extraordinary roster of 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.

Each year the day gathers around a fresh annual theme, and the themes have become part of the story. “Vision” in 2020 came with the invitation to “See It Like a Poet.” “Refuge” followed in 2023, and “counting” in 2024. The 2026 theme, “Wonder,” was developed with Hot Poets, the UK’s leading climate and literature organisation, and poet Michael Rosen, exploring climate science and action through poetry, with free assembly plans, classroom activities, and performance guides from the Poetry Society and the National Literacy Trust. The themes give schools, libraries, and families a doorway in, and each one lets a new generation meet poetry where it lives.

Over the years the day has produced moments that have entered the national memory. In 2015, National Poetry Day poems were included in the famous Blackpool Illuminations, lighting up the seafront in verse. In 2016, Prince Charles took part by reading Seamus Heaney’s “The Shipping Forecast.” In 2020, during the pandemic lockdowns, BT commissioned Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to write “Something Clicked,” a reflection on a strange and suspended time, and the Foundation’s director Susannah Herbert noted how many people were discovering their inner poet. A shared poem, she said, creates a space for true communication, with ourselves, our friends and family, and all those separated from us by distance or confinement.

That idea, that poetry connects us, is really what the day is about. William Sieghart has reflected that poetry is in demand because it gives us an expression of how we feel, often more elegantly worded than we could manage ourselves, and gives us a sense of complicity, a sense of no longer being alone in our thoughts or our lives. In a noisy world of soundbites and statistics, a poem offers something rarer: precision about feeling, and the comfort of knowing someone else has felt it too.

Schools sit at the heart of the celebration. Thousands take part through specially designed lesson resources aligned to the annual theme, and young poets share their work with the hashtag #MyNPDPoem, encouraged by videos, prompts, and readings from working poets. But the day has never been only for the young. It is for the commuter, the grandparent, the pub regular, and the person who has never once called themselves a reader. You do not need to know anything about poetry to take part. You only need curiosity, and perhaps a few spare minutes on the first Thursday of October.

More than three decades after that first burst of verse at Waterloo Station, National Poetry Day has become an established fixture in the cultural calendar, engaging millions of people with live events, classroom activities, and broadcasts. It began with one man’s conviction that poetry deserved a bigger stage, and it continues because that conviction turned out to be true. In 2027, the 34th National Poetry Day will once again ask a whole country to do something simple and radical: stop, listen, and let a few good lines in.

THE STORY BEHIND NATIONAL POETRY DAY

🎤 A Wish From 1994
National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by William Sieghart, who wanted people reading poetry on the bus on their way to work, in the street, in school, and in the pub. He felt the country’s talented poets deserved far more recognition, and the very first celebration put poetry in front of commuters at Waterloo Station.

📖 The Charity Behind the Day
The day is coordinated by the Forward Arts Foundation, a registered charity set up in 1995 to administer the Forward Prizes for Poetry (founded 1992) and National Poetry Day. Its mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and widen its audience, and the day is run with partners including Arts Council England, the Poetry Society, the Scottish Poetry Library, and the Southbank Centre.

🎯 A New Theme Every Year
Each year brings a fresh annual theme that guides events and school resources. Past themes include “Vision” with its invitation to “See It Like a Poet” (2020), “Refuge” (2023), “counting” (2024), and “Wonder” (2026), developed with Hot Poets and Michael Rosen to explore climate science and action through poetry.

👑 Moments That Made History
In 2015, National Poetry Day poems shone in the Blackpool Illuminations. In 2016, Prince Charles read Seamus Heaney’s “The Shipping Forecast” for the day. In 2020, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage wrote “Something Clicked” for BT, a lockdown reflection that captured a nation discovering its inner poet.

❤ A Day That Belongs to Everyone
Schools, libraries, bookshops, pubs, buses, trains, and Women’s Institutes all take part, and poems are shared millions of times on social media. You do not need to be a poet to join in. As the day’s founders intended, all you need is the willingness to stop and listen.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

💬 Share a Poem
Post a favourite poem, or one you have written yourself, on social media with #NationalPoetryDay, and take a picture of it in an unexpected place: a bus stop, a park bench, a kitchen table. The day’s founding spirit is poetry out in the world, not locked away.

🖋 Read It Out Loud
Honor William Sieghart’s original wish and read a poem aloud somewhere public: on the bus, in the street, at school, or in the pub. Poetry was made to be heard, and a single read-aloud line can change the mood of a whole room.

🎤 Write Your Own
Try writing to the year’s theme, join a school or library event, or explore the free resources from the Poetry Society and the National Literacy Trust. Young poets can share their work with #MyNPDPoem and join thousands of classrooms celebrating the day.

Celebrate National Poetry Day

On October 7, 2027, read a poem, write a poem, or simply stop and listen. In a noisy world, a few good lines can say exactly what you feel, and remind you that you are not alone in feeling it.