National Poetry Day is the biggest celebration of poetry the UK has to offer, and in honour of this occasion we've put together a list of ten poetry books and collections.
This compilation ranges from Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner to Armitage’s Zoom!. Whether you're a seasoned poetry lover or don't know where to start, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
If a collection takes your fancy, click on the title to reserve it.
For the past fifty years, Louise Glück has been a major force in modern poetry, distinguished as much for the restless intelligence, wit and intimacy of her poetic voice as for her development of a particular form: the book-length sequence of poems. This volume brings together the twelve collections Glück has published to date, offering readers the opportunity to become immersed in the artistry and vision of one of the world's greatest poets.
The Forward Book of Poetry 2025
The judges of the 2024 Forward Prizes for Poetry read hundreds of books and individual poems before arriving at this anthology. Their selections celebrate the diversity and innovation of poetry today, offering readers explorations of society, culture and personal experience. The collection consists of poems from various artists such as Vidyan Ravithiran and Karen Solie: Joint winners of the 2025 Forward Prize for Poetry.
The Luckiest Guy Alive, John Cooper Clarke
Punk. Poet. Pioneer. The Bard of Salford's hugely anticipated new collection of poetry, The Luckiest Guy Alive, is his first in over thirty years. These poems are scabrous, wry and vivid in a way only John Cooper Clarke could deliver. Inimitable and iconic, this collection will be a complete joy for lifelong fans as well as a whole new generation of punk poetry lovers.
Zoom! is the book which launched Simon Armitage’s rise to poetic stardom. Unusually for a first collection, Zoom! was picked as a Poetry Book Society Choice as well as being shortlisted for a Whitbread Poetry Award in 1989. Written at a time when he was still working as a probation officer, Zoom! established Armitage as one of the most distinctive new voices in British poetry and led to his becoming the current UK poet laureate in 2019.
The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot was a modernist poet, dramatist and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. This volume brings together three of his powerful collections into one. It includes such classic poems as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, “Portrait of a Lady” and “The Wasteland”.
When Sylvia Plath died, she not only left behind a prolific life but also her unpublished literary masterpiece, Ariel. Her husband, Ted Hughes, brought the collection to life in 1966, and its publication garnered worldwide acclaim. This collection showcases the beloved poet’s brilliant, provoking, and always moving poems, including ‘Ariel’, and once again shows why readers have fallen in love with her work throughout the generations.
In this book, we see Charles Bukowski reckoning with the complications of love and desire. Alternating between the tough and the tender, the romantic and the gritty, Bukowski exposes the myriad faces of love in the poems collected here – its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance, and redemptive power.
Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems, Allen Ginsberg
Beat movement icon and visionary poet, Allen Ginsberg broke boundaries with his fearless, pyrotechnic verse. This collection brings together the poems that made his name as a defining figure of the counterculture. The poems included highlight why Ginsberg was one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century.
The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Colerdige
Old but gold, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a brilliant narrative poem. The famous tale tells the atmospheric story of a sailor who kills an albatross, inadvertently bringing misfortune upon the rest of his crew. The Ancient Mariner’s punishment is to roam the Earth forever telling his tale. If you have a spare half an hour you should check out Sir Ian McKellen’s reading of the poem – it’s enchanting.
Devotion is Patti Smith’s attempt to explain her creative process. In this groundbreaking book, one of punk culture's beloved artists offers a detailed account of her own process, inspirations, and unexpected connections.
We hope you find some inspiration in this varied list. Now, why not try and write some poetry of your own?
You never know, you could be the next winner of the Guernsey International Poetry Competition! Find out more about this prestigious competition and information on how to enter at poemsonthemove.com