National Poetry Day 2020: Five of the most exciting new poets to start reading today

When we were at peak lockdown earlier in the year, there was one curious side effect: celebrities wouldn’t stop filming themselves reading poems. Now on National Poetry Day and as the prospect of a lockdown sequel hangs in the balance, it’s time to let the poets speak for themselves.

Autumn is well and truly here so we recommend putting a woolly jumper on, lighting a candle, making a cup of tea and curling up with one of these collections. They always sound better if you read them out loud – just make sure you’ve definitely logged out of Zoom.

Theresa Lola

Since becoming Young People’s Poet Laureate for London last year, British-Nigerian poet Theresa Lola, 26, has made it her mission to prove that poetry can be a vital tool for wellbeing.

She was originally all set to become an accountant, so it’s fortunate that she pursued her pen because she’s a rather wonderful poet too – her debut collection In Search of Equilibrium was described as “breathtaking” by Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo.

Start with: Two Photographs, where the poet sees herself change in two photographs taken five years apart: ‘Before taking that selfie, I bent the sun / toward my face and poured it into my void’.

Rachel Long

The pages of Rachel Long’s gorgeous debut collection My Darling From the Lions crackle with the nostalgia of growing up and the hum of desire. It may have only been released this summer, but as the founder of the Octavia Poetry Collective for Wxmen of Colour she’s been an important voice on the poetry scene for a while.

Start with: Apples is full of poignancy, where a different body might make for a different future: ‘I am magazine educated, so have known for a while / that my body is an apple’.

Ella Frears

Published by small press Offord Road Books, Ella Frears’ debut collection Shine, Darling, has a shimmering beauty – but it’s also very funny. She previously said that she wants to write poems “that deliver an emotional thump, while also flashing a smile – even if it’s from a place of intense vulnerability and almost imperceptible.” Make sure you look her up on YouTube, where you’ll find her talking about Chinese poet Yu Yoyo in the style of a make-up tutorial.

Start with: F***ing in Cornwall, an ode to love and a promised land full of pasties and curious museum artefacts.

Phoebe Stuckes

Any poet who gives their first published work the title Gin & Tonic is a friend of ours, but London-based poet Phoebe Stuckes has plenty more to recommend her than that. The fact she won the Foyle Young Poets award four times indicated her promise from the start, and her debut collection, Platinum Blonde, reveals a confident voice which is both vulnerable and bold.

Start with: Daughters, a clarion call for women to be untamed and unashamed

Seán Hewitt

It’s already been suggested that Irish poet Sean Hewitt could fill the shoes of Seamus Heaney (no pressure there), although his debut collection, Tongues of Fire, feels more reminiscent of Ted Hughes with its fascination with the mystical and the natural world.

Start with: Wild Garlic, a tonic as the nights draw in: ‘The world is dark but the wood is full of stars’, writes Hewitt.