Every winter Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition for schools, creates a special gift of poetry. The Poetry By Heart Festive Poetry Showcase is a digital anthology of poems – classic and contemporary, perfect to read, share and learn by heart at Christmas. With twenty-four featured poems, it’s a complete poetry advent calendar. 

‘We invite everyone to discover a festive poem, every day from 1st December to Christmas Eve, 24th December’, says Poetry By Heart director, Dr Julie Blake. ‘Poems in our Poetry Showcase this year include much-loved classics such as Christina Rossetti’s In the Bleak Midwinter and A Visit from St Nicholas by Clement C. Moore, and more recent favourites such as Valerie Bloom’s Baffled Turkey and Roger McGough’s Alternative Santa. There are quirky, idiosyncratic takes on Christmas, such as Edwin Morgan’s tongue-twisting The Computer’s First Christmas Card; frosty, sparkling celebrations of winter such as E. Pauline Johnson’s Lady Icicle; and poems that take a different view of traditional perspectives, such as Frank Horne’s Kid Stuff. 

‘Each poem offers something special for the season,’ Julie says, ‘and of course we’re delighted to include tips to help readers learn them by heart. What better way to celebrate the season than with a poetry performance for family and friends?’

The poems include:

Christmas is a coming - Paul Dunbar

Street Lights - Coral Rumble

Christmas - Leigh Hunt

The Kindness of Trees - Jackie Kay

In the Bleak Midwinter - Christina Rossetti

Alternative Santa - Roger McGough

Journey of the Magi - TS Eliot

Kid Stuff - Frank Horne

Christmas for Free - Lois Rock

Talking Turkeys - Benjamin Zephaniah

A Christmas Carol - GK Chesterton

Johnjoe's Snowman - Matthew Sweeney

Lady Icicle - E Pauline Johnson

and a tree - Kate Wakeling

The Computer's First Christmas Card - Edwin Morgan

Mistletoe - Walter de la Mare

Merry Christmas - Dorothy Brown Thompson

How I'll decorate My Tree - Liz Lochhead

A Visit from St Nicholas - Clement Clarke Moore

Baffled Turkey - Valerie Bloom

Plus, other poetry guests will be announced and the Poetry Society’s Trafalgar Square Christmas tree poem will be a special feature, as the tree is lit and the poem given its first performance on 7th December.

The Poetry By Heart Festive Poetry Showcase is completely free for everyone to share and enjoy, live from 1st December 2023.

The 2024 Poetry By Heart competition is open now to all schools and colleges in England. Young people are invited choose poems they love, learn them by heart and perform them in a school or college performance event. Research shows that participation supports curriculum development, builds literacy skills, and increases enjoyment of poetry across the whole school. Entry is free, and the Poetry By Heart website provides resources and support materials for teachers including a wide range of suggested poems, classic, contemporary and diverse, many written by living poets. 

Find out more at: www.poetrybyheart.org.uk

The grand finale of the 2024 competition will take place at Shakespeare’s Globe on Monday 1st July when finalists from schools in every region of England will perform live alongside some of the UK’s top poets. 

You can find a wonderful collection of poetry books at LoveReading4Kids to inspire your writing.