Okay that title might have been an exaggeration but hey, who doesn’t want to listen to them read poetry everyday. Well, you’re in luck because you can actually listen to them, and more other stars, read poetry for an hour, and it’s for a good cause.
Last month, Allie Esiri, famous curator and host of live poetry events, was joined by Asa Butterfield, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Kate Fleetwood, Tom Hiddleston, Dária Plahtíy and Helena Bonham Carter at the National Theatre where they dedicated poems to the people of Ukraine. Chris Riddell even live drew the evening. You can watch the whole clip below:
For those who are unfamiliar with Allie Esiri, she has actually published many poetry anthologies before. This particular event at the National Theatre celebrates A Poet for Every Day of the Year and her newest collection, Nursery Rhyme for Every Night of the Year. Nursery Rhyme for Every Night of the Year collects classics that we all grew up with, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, and modern ones such as “Do-Re-Mi”. There are also new poems written by famous authors such as Joseph Coelho, the Waterstones Children’s Laureate of 2022-2024, and Michael Rosen. It also has monthly themes so for May, you can look forward to poems with the themes of market and farm days.
Even though the Nursery Rhyme collection is best read to babies and toddlers, we just love flipping through the pages. It’s so hard not to sing along to the ones we have grown up singing to, and it’s also very fun to rediscover some of the poems that we have long since forgotten. For example, do you still recall the full poem of “One for Sorrow, Two for Joy”?! We certainly don’t — at least, not until reading this collection.
So start reading poetry everyday, because this is definitely a great new habit to have. Allie Esiri’s upcoming anthology, 365 Poems for Life, will be published in October 2023.
Stay tuned for more poetry content here on United by Pop!
