Penguin Relaunches Modern Poets Series

Penguin’s iconic Modern Poets series, which was first launched in the early 1960s with the writings of authors from Lawrence Durrell to Stevie Smith, is being revived this summer to introduce a new generation of poets. . .

Penguin poetry editor Donald Futers, who is relaunching the series in July with If I’m Scared We Can’t Win, featuring the work of Anne Carson, Sophie Collins and Emily Berry, said that he felt the time was right to bring it back.

“There’s a strong case for our finding ourselves right now in a golden age for poetry. Between creative writing programmes, an abundance of new publications, the ever-growing popularity of spoken word and performance poetry – think of Kate Tempest, or Warsan Shire – and a new generation made unprecedentedly available to one another across national boundaries by the internet, exciting poetry … is being written on a staggering scale,” said Futers. “The time is ripe for this revival of the Penguin Modern Poets.”