Duffy's fourth collection dramatises scenes from childhood, adolescence and adulthood. These are powerful poems of loss, betrayal and desire. This audiobook features 39 poems including 'Valentine', 'Havisham', 'Before You Were Mine' and 'Never Go Back'.

The father of performance poetry, John Agard, brings you a collection of riotously funny poems. Follow That Word is a celebration of imagination and demonstrates the true diversity of language. A dazzling collection of over sixty poems, Follow That Word delivers John Agard's musings on people and places from the modern and historical world; this wo...

The debut poetry collection from The Original Mummy's Boy, Hussain Manawer. 'I remember the day I wrote my first ever poem, I was sitting on my bed in the attic and started jotting down lines on this little notepad, little did I know where it would lead me professionally, personally and also psychologically. This is my life's work to this date, all...

Magic will burn you up.Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to pursue a more stable career. When she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind h...

Meet a fearless blue penguin on an unexpected journey, in this Waterstones Children's Book Prize-winning story from the bestselling Rob Biddulph, creator of the internet sensation #DrawWithRob! Meet Penguin Blue, in this Waterstones Children's Book Prize winning tale, read by the incredible Paul Panting! It's a windy day, and he has a brand-new kit...

POETRY BOOK SOCIETY CHOICE 2019Deaf Republic opens in a time of political unrest in an occupied territory. It is uncertain where we are or when, in what country or during what conflict, but we come to recognise that these events are also happening here, right now. This astonishing parable in poems unfolds episodically like a play, its powerful narr...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of bone written and read by Yrsa Daley-Ward, with a foreword read by Kiese Laymon. OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 'You will come away bruised. You will come away bruised but this will give you poetry.' Raw and stark, the poems in Yrsa Daley-Ward's breakthrough collection strip down her reflections on the heart...

For Solstice Shorts 2021 we invited writers to respond to the growing climate crisis. Where are the signs of renewal? Are there signs of regrowth? Have we pushed nature too far? What if it’s already too late? Poems and stories from the brink… a tipping point: responding to the floods and droughts and fires all around the globe with ten...

Stories and poems from nearly 40 UK writers of the Global Majority, from African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Carribean, South American, Chinese and Malay communities, writing about maps and mapping. Stories and poems of finding oneself and getting lost, colonialism and diaspora, childhood exploration and adult homecoming. featuring work by: Alexander W...

Born in 1938 and adopted soon after, Kate Foley grew up in London during WWII. The Don’t Touch Garden explores what it is to be adopted, both for the child and the adoptive parents, through a wide range of poetic styles and complex emotions. Sometimes autobiographical and narrative, sometimes oblique, brought together for the first time, thes...

Jeremy Dixon’s first full poetry collection A VOICE COMING FROM THEN starts from his teenage suicide attempt and expands to encompass themes of bullying, queerphobia, acceptance and support. Includes unexpected typography, collage, humour, magic, discotheques and frequent appearances from the Victorian demon, Spring-heeled Jack. Content warni...

When Rob Walton went into lockdown, he didn’t know that he would also go into mourning. Here he writes about the life and death of his dad, and how sadness seeped into various aspects of his life. He also manages to find cheap laughs, digs at the government, celebrations of the young and old, unashamed sentimentality and suddenly disarming mo...

What is it like to grow up in a place where the same police officer who told your primary school class they were special stops and searches you at 13 because 'you fit the description of a man' - and where it is possible to walk two and a half miles through an estate of 1,444 homes without ever touching the ground? In Poor, Caleb Femi explores the t...

Dylan Thomas is one of the 20th century's most celebrated poets. His rich rhetoric created poems of magical imagery - nowhere is language more rich and fantastic than in his best-known work, Under Milk Wood. He was also a popular radio entertainer and the BBC Archives contain a wealth of material featuring Dylan Thomas - not only readings of his ow...

This is a selection of poems by Joyce Grenfell. Known and loved for her inimitable songs and monologues, Joyce Grenfell's first earnings came from her poetry, which she wrote throughout her life. These poems are full of the wit and observation that are the hallmarks of the monologues that made her name. They are perceptive, witty and amusing and a...

These are masterly readings, by renowned thespian Paul Schofield, of two substantial works of poetry by T.S. Eliot. The Wasteland, first published in 1922, is one of Eliot's most influential works and has long been on the syllabus for A-Level English Literature. The Four Quartets consists of four long poems, first published between 1935 and 1942....

In the famous tones of Sir John himself, this autobiography in verse poignantly describes the pains and pleasures of growing up.

From the pen of comic genius Spike Milligan, here are sixty-two hilarious gems read by Spike himself including 'Ying-Tong-Iddle-I-Po', 'This is a Stick Up' and 'Fleas, Knees and Hidden Elephants'.

Sir John Betjeman, poet, broadcaster, journalist, prose writer and critic, was one of the best-loved figures of the twentieth century. Betjeman was a prolific writer and his poems still resonate today. This release celebrates the centenary of Betjeman's birth

Sir John Betjeman was one of the best-known and loved Poet Laureates. Even after his death, his popularity continues to garner acclaim and new admirers. Fortunately, he left behind a legacy of poetry readings and performances in the BBC archives that can be enjoyed in this comprehensive collection. Selected from over 30 years of radio and televisio...

Pam Ayres reads over 50 of her best-known and loved poems, including 'I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth', 'I'm a Starling, Me Darling' and 'Thoughts of a Late-Night Knitter'.