Poetry International 23 - 26 July 2015 London, England

'A poem is a sword. It's our form of resistance.' (Sahera Sharif).

Poetry from around the world illuminating "poetry's enduring ability to anticipate and envision change and transcend barriers of censorship, prejudice and conflict". Poets include Imtiaz Dharker, Jo Shapcott, Aamir Iqbal and Kei Miller.

Lots of good and challenging content but out of many options, a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon (26th July) is Sex in the Afternoon with Kei Miller, Malika Booker, Warsan Shire, plus Rachel Mars as they share "poetry and prose exploring sex in all its pain and glory". Plus a Q&A session with historian of sexuality Dr Jana Funke.

Find out more here http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/poetry-international

Best Scottish Poems 2014 from the Scottish Poetry Library

A lovely treat for Sunday - the best poems from Scotland last year as edited by Roderick Watson.

I am delighted to find p&g poets among their number:

• Judith Taylor with her beautiful poem The Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poems/lapland-woman-and-finland-woman
• Richie McCaffery with the evocative poem Cold Caller from his fine first collection Cairn http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poems/cold-caller

You can find the complete poem selection here including work from Kei Miller (seen last at StAnza), powerful new voice Claire Askew and the irrespressible Andrew Sclater to name a few http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poems/cold-caller

Delighted to be at #StAnza15

Having a pause after visiting the pamphlet sale or poetry market - curated by Alan Gay - in the town hall here in St Andrews and I can report that StAnza is every bit as good as people say - maybe the streets aren't paved with poets (not even after kicking out time at the pubs as Ian Duhig naughtily suggested on Twitter) - but the population density is certainly high.

This is heightened by the fact that the festival venues are close together in the three streets - with the result that you can mix fantastic and imaginative events with the constant joy of running into old friends.

I went straight into a great reading on arrival last night- the place is packed out - and I was lucky to pick up a returned ticket for Helen Mort and J L Williams (replacing Liz Berry) and then on into a (not so quiet) open mic (Colin Will reading in the picture) at Zest - where, yes, I read my first poems at StAnza. Fab.

Tonight it is Ian Duhig, Kei Miller, Ilya Kaminsky, the slam and Simon Armitage.