Oxford Poetry Library

04/09/2026

Three years ago, we launched our daytime open mic The Hip Crowd alongside . Although all are welcome, this was created as a space to centre new parents, a group of people often excluded from these kinds of creative spaces due to child-unfriendly hours, a lack of childcare, venue restrictions.

We've loved making this a baby-welcoming space and seeing all the amazing performances folks have brought to the room. Unfortunately, it's time for this chapter to end, but we'll be back for one last instalment at the end of this month!

Join us on 25th September from 11:30am to 1pm at The Community Works, 21 Park End Street. Tickets are £5 cash on the door, with free entry for performers (arrive from 11am to sign up).

Bring your babies (if you have them), plus your songs, poems, stories, comedy, or anything else that will fit in a five minute slot. We'd love to say goodbye to The Hip Crowd with you!

04/09/2026

NEXT WEEK, Oxford Poetry Library is back, and so is The Shape of Poetry!! If you've been missing us all summer, you definitely want to join this workshop!!

The Shape of Poetry is all about understanding poetic form using examples, and you even get the chance to experiment and write your own! It's open to all poets, no matter how experienced you are, and you can share what you've written or learned in a safe and supportive environment.

We'll be online from 2pm - 4pm 📆
Grab your tickets below!!
🎟️ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-shape-of-poetry-workshop-series-tickets-886344429047

02/09/2026

On 19 September, two very talented poets are joining us at the library to read from their new collections. Don't miss Catherine Redford and Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana in The Community Works at 7.30pm!

In the run-up to the event, we'll be spotlighting each of these excellent writers and first up is Catherine Redford. Catherine's Forward-nominated debut collection, The Way the Water Held Me (The Emma Press, 2026), explores the caring, grief, loss, and love experienced by a young widow. A Magma Selected Poet, Catherine’s work has also been published in Under the Radar, Propel, New Welsh Reader, and Lighthouse. She is an editor at Dust Poetry magazine, a Nine Arches Press Dynamo Poet, and a Writing West Midlands Room 204 Writer.‘Catherine Redford is a luminous writer and her poems will touch your heart’ (Liz Berry)

Get your tickets now!

Hear award winning poets Catherine Redford and Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana read from their new collections.

01/09/2026

After a long, hot Summer...Oxford Poetry Library is back, and so is The Shape of Poetry! ☀️

COMING UP THIS SATURDAY: The Shape of Poetry, OPL's premier formal poetry workshop where we look at everything poetic form. We cover everything, from haikus to sonnets, ghazals and ballads! Every month we gather online to look at a specific poem, pick it apart to understand its form, and then you get to experiment with writing your own. 🔥✒️

This workshop is collaborative and supportive - all poets are welcome, no matter how experienced you are! At the end of each session, you can share what you've written or learned in a low-pressure environment.

We will be online this Saturday, from 2pm to 4pm. We also have flexible pricing for our tickets!

Grab your tickets at the link below - see you on Saturday!!

🎟️ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-shape-of-poetry-workshop-series-tickets-886344429047

01/09/2026

Our inclusive workshop for carving out poetry time and learning new skills is coming up!

Getting Started with Poetry takes place at The Community Works Event Space on September 14, 7-8.30pm.

Join us for a relaxed, accessible session designed to help you move forward with your writing. It's free!

31/08/2026

Missed us?

We're reopening our library on SATURDAY 5 SEPTEMBER.

Come along and get your reading as we head into the end of summer. New books, new poetry, all ready to go!

31/08/2026

TOMORROW! TIJTS returns for September featuring Sophia Blackwell on the theme of FLIGHT — and YOU! Come and read for us :) arrive from 7 for 7.30, £7/£4 on the door. Can't wait to jet off!

28/08/2026

Join Jay Gao, Nathaniel Chew, Mary Jean Chan, and Theophilus Kwek for a spell-binding evening of poetry next month!

Four poets gather at the Oxford Poetry Library on Friday, 11 September at 7pm, to celebrate new books by Jay Gao (The Dead One) and Theophilus Kwek (Odeon). Join them, alongside Mary Jean Chan and Nathaniel Chew, to hear some of their latest work, with echoes of the many cities they’ve called home – including Edinburgh, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Oxford and beyond.

We've been spotlighting each of these wonderful poets in the run-up to the event, and next up is Nathaniel Chew! Nathaniel is a librarian and writer from Singapore, interluding in Oxford. His collection featherweight (2019) won the Golden Point Award for Poetry in English, and his writing is published in New Singapore Poetries (Gaudy Boy, 2022), Multiple Exposures (Longbarrow Press, 2022), and online at ArtsEquator, PR&TA, and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore.

Tickets selling fast - grab yours here:

Join Jay Gao, Nathaniel Chew, Mary Jean Chan, and Theophilus Kwek for a spell-binding evening of poetry!

26/08/2026

Reminder that This Is Just To Say RETURNS in just one week (1 Sep) — hope to see you there! £7/4 concessions on the door, 7pm sign-ups, readings from 7.30. Sophia Blackwell, our featured poet this month, has chosen the theme of FLIGHT 🛫 can't wait to hear you take off...

21/08/2026

Join us on 11 September for Thundering In Your Ear, an exclusive event celebrating four poets: Jay Gao, Theophilus Kwek, Mary Jean Chan, and Nathaniel Chew, as they share work which explores the echoes of the many cities they’ve called home – including Edinburgh, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Oxford and beyond.

As we approach the event, we'll be telling you a bit more about each of the poets to whet your appetites. Next up is Mary Jean Chan! Mary Jean is the author of Flèche (Faber & Faber, 2019), which won the Costa Book Award for Poetry. Bright Fear (Faber, 2023), their second book, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Chan co-edited 100 Q***r Poems (Vintage, 2022) with Andrew McMillan, and is currently Departmental Lecturer in Poetry on the MSt in Creative Writing and Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

Get your tickets now!

Join Jay Gao, Nathaniel Chew, Mary Jean Chan, and Theophilus Kwek for a spell-binding evening of poetry!