Stay in the loop and register for email updates about events, competitions and all things poetry.
Stay in the loop and register for email updates about events, competitions and all things poetry.
The National Poetry Library’s extensive collection covers the period 1912 to the present day. You can find all of the major poets of the 20th and 21st centuries along with a whole range of overlooked and emerging talents.
The library continues to collect all UK poetry books from major and independent press publishers. There are also a number of special collections which can be accessed, including audio, magazines, zines, press cuttings, images of poets, postcards and posters. There is a dedicated section for children’s books and also a section of resources for teachers.
The library offers an extensive loan collection which you can borrow from after taking out membership. Our catalogue is online and can be searched by subject, genre, nationality, language as well as author, title and publisher.
Wherever possible we acquire two copies of each title, one for reference, which never leaves the library, the second for loan. Books are arranged alphabetically by author, with a separate section for anthologies.
Discover some of our collection highlights below. We're digitising them for the future so that they can be even more easily accessed.