StAnza, Scotland's International Poetry Festival

StAnza, Scotland's International Poetry Festival Scotland's international poetry festival. Get it in the diaries:
StAnza 2026 13-15 March

StAnza 2026 has been and gone - and what a weekend it was.From intimate readings to packed headline shows, this year's f...
09/04/2026

StAnza 2026 has been and gone - and what a weekend it was.

From intimate readings to packed headline shows, this year's festival brought something genuinely special to St Andrews. Thank you to every poet who shared their work, and to every single person who came through the doors at the Byre and beyond.

You Are Not Alone. See you next year.

Our Well Versed featured poet for April is Yousif M. Qasmiyeh! You are invited to a live online reading and Q&A with the...
27/03/2026

Our Well Versed featured poet for April is Yousif M. Qasmiyeh! You are invited to a live online reading and Q&A with them on the 15th April, noon-1pm.

Hosted in partnership with Open Book, Open Book are also hosting a reading session looking at Qasmiyeh's work on 8th April, and a creative writing session in response to their work on the 22nd April.

You can see and sign up for these events - and see Open Book's full calendar of events - here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/open-book-30182484732

Congratulations to Full Circle! Their poetry film '360 Degrees: We Are Not Going Anywhere' has won StAnza On Screen Audi...
26/03/2026

Congratulations to Full Circle! Their poetry film '360 Degrees: We Are Not Going Anywhere' has won StAnza On Screen Audience Choice Award 2026.

Do give them your well wishes, and you can view the full poetry film on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnV1qlvd2U

https://www.littlecog.co.uk/full-circle.html
https://arconline.co.uk/take-part/for-artists/associate-artists-and-companies/full-circle-2/

Instagram Pages:
https://www.instagram.com/littlecog1/
https://www.instagram.com/ourstompinggrounds/
https://www.instagram.com/viciws/
https://www.instagram.com/lizzie_lovejoy_illustration/
https://www.instagram.com/kirkjohnbride/

The Jhalak Poetry Prize 2026 longlist landed yesterday - and we are thrilled to see four poets with StAnza connections a...
17/03/2026

The Jhalak Poetry Prize 2026 longlist landed yesterday - and we are thrilled to see four poets with StAnza connections among the twelve titles.

Congratulations to Sarah Howe (Foretokens, Chatto & Windus), Andrés N. Ordorica (Holy Boys, Polygon), and Nick Makoha (The New Carthaginians, Penguin) - all of whom read at StAnza 2026 just this past weekend - and to Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Why I am not a Bus Driver, Bad Betty Press).

It feels like a particularly joyful moment to share this news so close to the end of the festival. These are poets whose work stopped rooms and started conversations in St Andrews, and we could not be more proud to have had them as part of You Are Not Alone.

The Jhalak Poetry Prize shortlist is announced on 14 April 2026. Find the full longlist at jhalakprize.com.

You can also watch the poets perform through our livestreams of StAnza 2026: find on our website https://stanzapoetry.org

StAnza 2026 is over, and we are still feeling it.Thank you to every poet, translator, performer, workshop leader, filmma...
17/03/2026

StAnza 2026 is over, and we are still feeling it.

Thank you to every poet, translator, performer, workshop leader, filmmaker, and volunteer who gave their time, energy and words to You Are Not Alone this weekend. Thank you to everyone who travelled to St Andrews, joined us online, or followed along from afar. A festival only becomes what it is because of the people who show up for it - and you showed up.

If you were there and want to relive the weekend, or if you missed events you wished you'd caught, the StAnza 2026 livestreams are now available to watch. From the headline Centre Stage readings to the conversations, lectures and performances across the weekend, you can access them all on our website.

Head to https://stanzapoetry.org to find out more and watch now.

15/03/2026

the wonderful performing George Floyd at StAnza this evening

Thanks to all who attended an amazing weekend of international poetry at StAnza 2026. Here are some highlights from Satu...
15/03/2026

Thanks to all who attended an amazing weekend of international poetry at StAnza 2026. Here are some highlights from Saturday featuring Carl Phillips, Isabelle Baafi, Dean Tsang and Andrés N. Ordorica.

We'd love to hear some of your highlights from this year's festival!

🍷 + 🎈 + 🫜enjoying the beautiful work written by you all in our madlibsalso really like the verb "did uber"it's not too ...
15/03/2026

🍷 + 🎈 + 🫜

enjoying the beautiful work written by you all in our madlibs
also really like the verb "did uber"

it's not too late to have a go yourself - find them on the tables around the byre!

This morning, Terrance Hayes - National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow - brought his masterclass Reading to Writ...
15/03/2026

This morning, Terrance Hayes - National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow - brought his masterclass Reading to Write to the Byre Auditorium, inviting participants to explore how the poems we read can shape and unlock the ones we write ourselves.

A brilliant way to spend a final StAnza morning. Thank you to everyone who joined us across the weekend - and thank you to Terrance for closing the masterclass programme in style.

14/03/2026

Something a little for your StAnza Sunday.

Hold the Phone is an intimate one-to-one poetry experience running in the Byre Theatre on Sunday March 15. Pick up the phone, find a quiet moment, and hear a poem read directly to you. No booking needed, just drop in and pay on the door.

Sunday 15 March | 14:00-18:00 | Byre Theatre, Level 2 Foyer | £5 - drop in

If you're at the festival this weekend, come and find Tim!Our trusty trustee Tim is set up on the sofa in the Byre foyer...
14/03/2026

If you're at the festival this weekend, come and find Tim!

Our trusty trustee Tim is set up on the sofa in the Byre foyer on Level 1 today and tomorrow, and he's there for a conversation - no pressure, no agenda. Supporting StAnza can mean so many things: your skills, your time, your ideas, or financial support if that's something you're able to offer. It's all welcome.

Come and say hello and find out how you can be part of what we do!

https://stanzapoetry.org/our-supporters

We want to apologise to anyone who who were attending this morning's livestream of Wake up, Poetry with Charles Lang and...
14/03/2026

We want to apologise to anyone who who were attending this morning's livestream of Wake up, Poetry with Charles Lang and Isabelle Baafi. We have experienced a technical issue which affects the stream, and we're sorry for the disruption.

The good news is a recording will be made available, and The Byre Theatre will be sending out a link following the performance - so you won't miss a thing.

Thank you for your understanding.

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