Re-inventing North: Newcastle Poetry Festival 2026

Held in St Mary’s Heritage Centre, this is the festival’s tenth year and marks its relaunch as an independent charity.  Included in the relaunch was a brand-new partner and principal sponsor: the Griffin Poetry Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards for poetry, putting the festival, and Newcastle on an international stage.

The weekend culminated in the Griffin Gala, at which Carolyn Forché, Sarah Howe, Rachael Boast and Aleš Šteger read alongside Roger Reeves, who won the Griffin Prize in 2023. The Griffin Gala is a powerful indication of the region’s standing in contemporary poetry.

Showcasing poets, publishers and new voices

The festival opened with Poetry Live! for GCSE students, followed by readings from Daljit Nagra, Sean O'Brien and T.S. Eliot Prize winner Karen Solie. The day continued with performances from the Poetry Virgins and a Poetry Book Society showcase featuring Martina Evans and Jackie Kay.

On the second day, attention turned to the craft and business of poetry, with editors from Bloodaxe, Chatto & Windus and Blueprint Pamphlets joining the programme alongside readings from James Berry Prize winners Clementine E. Burnley, Roshni Gallagher and Nadine El-Enany.

The programme also featured a performance inspired by Cædmon's Hymn, the earliest surviving English poem, rooted in seventh-century Northumbria. Throughout the festival, free events supported emerging voices, including an open mic, a mentoring session and a discussion with publishers.

Newcastle at the heart of the festival

Newcastle University's contribution ran throughout the weekend. Festival Director Emerita Professor Linda Anderson, former Head of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, founded the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts and has helped shape the festival since its inception.

Newcastle connections featured across the programme. Sean O'Brien is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, while Gráinne O'Hare, John Challis and Olivia McCannon all completed doctorates at Newcastle. Nadine El-Enany is a former winner of the Newcastle University Chancellor's Poetry Prize.

The University's Chancellor, Imtiaz Dharker, was also a key part of the festival. A celebrated poet, artist and filmmaker, she has been Chancellor since 2020 and exemplifies the University's longstanding commitment to creative writing and the literary arts.

Highlighting the value of creativity at Newcastle University

The festival offers a great deal for the University community. For our students, the free events for new poets are a rare route into publishing and mentoring. For our researchers, sessions like the Cædmon discussion show scholarship reaching a live public audience. And for the University as a whole, the festival’s growing work with local schools opens up real opportunities for partnership across the North East, as well as emphasising the key work that the festival does in foregrounding the extraordinary literary work done in the region. 

To find out about events through the year, visit newcastlepoetryfestival.org.uk or follow @newcastlepoetryfestival on Instagram.

Acknowledgement and thanks

None of this would be possible without the festival’s funders. Alongside the Griffin Prize, these were Bloodaxe Books, the Poetry Book Society, the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Institute of English Studies (School of Advanced Study, University of London), Community Foundation North East, Poetry Live!, LNER, the Hilton, and Newcastle University.