National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day is a British campaign to promote poetry, including public performances. National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by William Sieghart. It takes place annually in the UK and Ireland on a Thursday in late September/early October. Since its inception, it has engaged millions of people across the country with live events, classroom activities and broadcasts. National Poetry Day is coordinated by the charity Forward Arts Foundation, whose mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience. Its other projects include the Forward Prizes for Poetry. The day is run in collaboration with partners including Arts Council England, Literature Wales, Poet in the City, Southbank Centre, The Poetry Book Society, The Poetry Society, The Scottish Poetry Library, Poetry By Heart and The Poetry School.

Prince Charles performed in the 2016 National Poetry Day, reading Seamus Heaney' The Shipping Forecast. On 2015 National Poetry Day poems were included on Blackpool Illuminations.

National Poetry Day 2016 fell on 6 October. The theme was Messages, with the spur to "Say It With A Poem", encouraging participants to send poems to friends, colleagues and the wider world. National Poetry Day 2017 will be Thursday 28 September 2017, with the theme 'Freedom'.

National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by William Sieghart who said, "There are millions of talented poets out there and it's about time they got some recognition for their work. They shouldn’t be embarrassed about reading their work out aloud. I want people to read poetry on the bus on their way to work, in the street, in school and in the pub." National Poetry Day is celebrated around the UK. In 1994 the Radio Times wrote “National Poetry Day has been created to prove that poetry has a place in everyone's life. From children chanting to advertising jingles and pop songs, it is used to entertain and communicate across the nation.”

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