The Poetry Lighthouse Prize
BOOK LAUNCH - Poems From The Odyssey
You’re warmly invited to the online launch of Poems From The Odyssey by Ed Martineau! 🎉📚
Join us for a relaxed and inspiring afternoon featuring an interview with Ed and a reading of poems from the collection.
✨ Free event
🗓 22 July
⏰ 7:00 PM (UK time)
Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86785876579?pwd=yb3477jdKnQNP98a8rZb4BbALg9GTo.1
Meeting ID: 867 8587 6579
Passcode: 160623
Whether you love poetry, music, or thoughtful reflections on life, this is a lovely chance to hear the poems in the poet’s own voice and celebrate the release together.
We’d be delighted to see you there!
📕 Get your copy of Ed Martineau’s Poems From The Odyssey here.
TPL at The Common Press - Poetry Readings & Book Launch
Join us for an evening of poetry, conversation, and community with The Poetry Lighthouse. Meet fellow poets, readers, translators, and friends, discover new voices, and celebrate the power of poetry together.
📍118 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 6DC
🎟️ Pay-what-you-can ticketing (Every contribution will be used to support The Common Press)
⏰ From 7pm to 9:30pm, Monday 20th July
Programme:
[Reading] ‘Only one Earth’ by Pat Farrington
Pat Farrington spent her formative years in West Africa. Exiled to England for school, she went on to work as an assistant editor in educational publishing, three years as a primary teacher and then nearly 20 years as a director/producer for BBC Schools Television where, among other things, she wrote song lyrics for young children. After leaving the BBC, Pat worked for a charity, bringing writers into schools for residencies. Her two grandchildren, Rosa and Ada are a joy to her and allow her to revisit the natural world through a child’s eyes.
[Book Launch] ‘Poems from the Odyssey’ by Ed Martineau
Graduated from Cambridge University, Ed is a Classics teacher in High Wycombe. His collection Poems from the Odyssey is a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey - compiling a series of fascinating, constantly shifting pieces, spanning the events of the entire epic and the characters which populate it. From Telemachus’s fruitless voyage in search of his lost father, to Odysseus’s heart-pounding escape from the cyclops Polyphemus, to the slaying of the suitors, Martineau retells each episode with clarity and style.
[Book Announcement] ‘No Way of Returning Home’ by Melanie Hyo-In Han
Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han (she/her) recently moved from the US to the UK. She is the author of four collections of poetry and holds a PhD in Creative Writing and an MFA in Poetry and Translation. Currently, she serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Flora Fiction and the Two Languages Prize Editor at Gasher Press. Learn more at melaniehan.com.
TPL Anthology Poets’ Readings:
Rick McLean
Rick McLean is a Leeds-born poet based in London. His work draws from working-class experience, combining sharp social commentary, dark humour and a distinctly Yorkshire voice. His writing is punk poetry for modern Britain, exploring inequality, digital life, nostalgia and the everyday absurdities of contemporary city living. His poems carry a Northern rhythm forged as much on stage as on the page. This is poetry for those who hate poetry.
Mariam Saidan
Mariam Saidan is a Specialist Advocate for Women’s Rights and has worked as a Children’s Rights Advocate, studied Human Rights Law at Nottingham University (LLM) and Creative Writing at Kent University. She is Iranian, based in London and has lived in Iran, France, and the UK. She wrote her first journal at 8 years old during the Iran-Iraq war.
Satya Bosman
Satya Bosman is co-editor at Black Cat Press. She has worked in 14 Magazine, The Lake, The Storms Journal, The Poetry Lighthouse, Porridge Magazine, The Madrid Review and Eche amongst others. She won Third Prize in the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society folio competition 2025 and 2026 and was shortlisted for The London Magazine Poetry Prize 2026. Her debut collection Dream Logic published with Crumps Barn Studio in 2026.
Rishika Pandit
Rishika Pandit (she/her) is a poet based in London, currently pursuing her MA in Poetic Practice. She often writes about themes of belonging, immigration and the ecotones between natural and urban spaces. She is from the small town of Vadodara, Gujarat which is often a backdrop in her writing. Public transport, collecting random things and eavesdropping on conversations are parts of her practice. She speaks English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali & a bit of Swedish.
Ellie Spirrett
Ellie Spirrett is a poet and member of Spread the Word’s Young Writers Collective. She writes about disability, ableism, friendship and the loneliness epidemic. Ellie is the self advocacy coordinator at Lewisham Speaking Up, an organisation that supports people with learning disabilities to campaign for their rights.
Anya Hunt- Byer
Anya Hunt- Byer is a Queer, disabled writer, actor and artist based in South London.She’s previously been published in ‘Within the Binding’ with spread the word, and her made her stage debut at theatre Peckham with Portic Unity’s spoken word theatre company. She is currently training in writing for stage screen, radio and television at the Royal Central School of speech and Drama.
Benedicta Norell
Benedicta has recently moved back to London after twenty-five years, but that’s not her record for taking a break from things she loves, as she stopped writing poetry for over thirty. Her debut pamphlet, Terrible Mother, was published by Black Cat when she was fifty-three. It’s been said that she writes with “wisdom, compassion and an uncommon honesty.” Her first full collection is forthcoming next year. For news and links to poems, check out her website.
Anna Mindel Crawford
Hello. I’m Anna. I’m from the UK and live in West London. English was my favourite subject at school and I studied Classics for my undergraduate degree but for a number of years shifted my focus onto careers in different fields including consumer and social research, and learning and development. I recently had the honour of judging London Borough of Hounslow’s annual Poetry Slam for secondary schools where I sat on the panel as the ‘local poet’.
Edwin Fairbrother
Edwin Fairbrother is a writer and poet from London, UK - with a BA in Media Studies and an MA in Music Business. He loves listening to and writing about music in his spare time - with articles published in Alt Press and Rave Report to name a few - as well as writing poetry and now fiction. Edwin turned to poetry initially to express his frustration with the current geopolitical landscape and certain aspects of our increasingly digitised and divided societies, as well as the occasional sparks that give our world its magic.
Titles available for sale:
The Poetry Lighthouse Prize - Summer 2026
The ceremony will include readings from our shortlisted poets, announcement of the winners, and an opportunity to connect with fellow poets and poetry enthusiasts.
This Summer round considers poems published with us from the 4th of August 2025 to the 23rd of December 2025.
Event Details:
📅 Date: Sunday, 5th of July
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM London-UK Time
⌛ Duration: Approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes
🖥️ Platform: Zoom
Please find the Zoom link below:
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87697496680?pwd=AGtMaLMClhCr01FElkYFmOKFImsUGN.1
Meeting ID: 876 9749 6680
Passcode: 014551
🏆 Prizes: 1st place (£75), 2nd place (£50), 3rd place (£25)
This event will be recorded and uploaded on our YouTube channel.
Thank you very much to all our supporters and readers, we hope you enjoy the event!
The Nature of Our Times: Ecopoetry Reading & Conversation
Join us for an evening of ecopoetry - a space for reflection, urgency, and connection through language and the natural world. A gathering of voices exploring our relationship with the planet - its beauty, fragility, and future.
This special reading and conversation features poems from The Nature of Our Times (Paloma Press anthology) alongside selections from Pat Farrington’s Only One Earth.
With readings from:
Yvonne Blomer, Cassandra Bousquet, Aileen Cassinetto, Pat Farrington, David Hassler, Nancy Huggett, Jesse Holth, and Luisa A. Igloria.
🌿 May 13
🕒 3:00–4:30pm BST (11am CST / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST)
🌐Free online event.
🔗Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81884262576?pwd=seUPm9pcpesVOMeAHrNRv05auhK8q4.1
Meeting ID: 818 8426 2576
Passcode: 952514
BOOK LAUNCH - Burning Shadows
Célébrez la sortie de Ombres en Feu de Sofia Perez ! 🎉📚
Rejoignez-nous pour un après-midi détendu et inspirant, avec une interview et une lecture de poèmes tirés du recueil.
✨ Événement gratuit
🗓 24 avril
⏰ 18h00 (heure du Royaume-Uni – GMT)
Lien Zoom :
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83156858153?pwd=zWbxNJPcskyPmM0vS3DrnazypM0ZCJ.1
Meeting ID: 831 5685 8153
Passcode: 223112
Si vous aimez les poèmes riches en images et nourris par la nature, c’est une belle occasion d’entendre les textes dans la voix de la poète et de célébrer ensemble la parution du livre.
Nous serions ravis de vous y voir ! ✨
BOOK LAUNCH - 'Record Player Life' by Rachel Turney
You’re warmly invited to the online launch of Record Player Life (the b-side) by Rachel Turney! 🎉📚
Join us for a relaxed and inspiring afternoon featuring an interview with Rachel and a reading of poems from the new collection.
✨ Free event
🗓 26 March
⏰ 4:00 PM (UK time - GMT)
Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83497378232?pwd=IoVvqCitn78sEFbAy5qdjeLrVkk7lH.1
Meeting ID: 834 9737 8232
Passcode: 448138
Whether you love poetry, thoughtful reflections on life, or connecting with words, this is a lovely chance to hear the poems in the poet’s own voice and celebrate the release together.
We’d be delighted to see you there!
BOOK LAUNCH 'U&I' by Emilie Galindo
You’re warmly invited to the online launch of
U&I in a Paisley Conservation Pit by Emilie Galindo
🗓 Friday 13th February
🕕 6:00 PM (UK time)
📍 Zoom
🎟 Free & open to all
Please join us for an evening celebrating the release of U&I in a Paisley Conservation Pit—a reading, conversation, and shared moment around the book.
Whether you’re familiar with Emilie’s work or discovering it for the first time, all are welcome.
Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89158882105?pwd=82qzeoIE0H7LQahcjsu2lNZTIuYlrL.1
Meeting ID: 891 5888 2105
Passcode: 808974
We’d love to see you there to celebrate Emilie’s Work!
The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025 (Winter)
Announcing The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025! 🏆
We are thrilled to introduce The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025 (Winter round), celebrating the finest poetry published by The Poetry Lighthouse. This prestigious award recognises outstanding poetic voices that have graced our platform, offering a chance for recognition and rewards.
Prizes:
🥇 1st Place – €75
🥈 2nd Place – €50
🥉 3rd Place – €25
All longlisted poets will have their work featured in our semi-annual poetry anthology (paperback edition)—a testament to their literary excellence.
Only poems that have been submitted and published by The Poetry Lighthouse are eligible for consideration. This round includes poems published from 23/03/2025 to 30/08/2025. Stay tuned for further details (date to be confirmed), and keep crafting your finest verses!
📖 Let your words shine with The Poetry Lighthouse Prize!
(our upcoming “TPL Anthology; Volume III,” comes out this winter)
The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025 (Spring)
Announcing The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025! 🏆
We are thrilled to introduce The Poetry Lighthouse Prize 2025 (Spring round), celebrating the finest poetry published by The Poetry Lighthouse. This prestigious award recognises outstanding poetic voices that have graced our platform, offering a chance for recognition and rewards.
Prizes:
🥇 1st Place – €75
🥈 2nd Place – €50
🥉 3rd Place – €25
All longlisted poets will have their work featured in our semi-annual poetry anthology (paperback edition)—a testament to their literary excellence.
Only poems that have been submitted and published by The Poetry Lighthouse are eligible for consideration. This round includes poems published from 22/03/2024 to 22/03/2025. Stay tuned for further details (date to be confirmed), and keep crafting your finest verses!
📖 Let your words shine with The Poetry Lighthouse Prize!
(our upcoming “TPL Anthology; Volume II,” comes out this summer)
The Poetry Lighthouse Prize (summer)
10 poems will be shortlisted out of all of the poems that have been published with us, from which, 3 will be awarded. Additionally, all the poems selected for the long-list and short-list will get a spot in our seasonal paperback poetry collection.
1st prize — $100
2nd prize — $75
3rd prize — $50
This public event will take place online and all short-listed poets will be invited to read some of their poems.
The Poetry Lighthouse Prize (winter) — postponed to January
Attention — the date is likely to be postponed. All details will be announced on Instagram.
10 poems will be shortlisted, from which, 3 will be awarded.
1st prize — $50 + publication
2nd prize — $50 + publication
3rd prize — $50 + publication