Colourful illustration of Poets' Corner within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse

Poets’ Corner is a literary pilgrimage like no other. Join us this season as we celebrate the power of words and stories penned by historic and emerging poets. Discover new ways of seeing the world through their captivating verses.

Upcoming events

Photograph of member of staff leading a drop in talk, with visitors listening while standing in Poets' Corner

Voice and Verse 15-Minute Talk: Poets' Corner - October

8th - 29th October 2024

Poets' Corner
Included in the price of admission

Photograph of visitors looking at the memorial to William Shakespeare within Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Tour: Beyond Poets’ Corner

12th October - 23rd November 2024

The Abbey
£10

Photograph of an empty cloister with one woman reading a book within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Bookshelf

1st October - 30th November 2024

Cloister entrance
Included in the prices of admission

Voice and Verse Lunchtime Concert

Voice and Verse Lunchtime Concert

Wednesday, 23rd October 2024

1.00pm - 1.45pm
St Margaret's Church
£5 - £10

Photograph of a child and parent reading out loud into a microphone within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Family Day: Get Creative!

Friday, 1st November 2024

10.00am - 12.00pm
St Margaret's Church
Free (booking required)

Close-up photograph of spines of book in the library at Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Workshop: Book Binding

Saturday, 2nd November 2024

10.00am - 5.30pm
Education Centre
£70

Photograph of member of staff leading a drop in talk, with visitors listening while standing in Poets' Corner

Voice and Verse 15-Minute Talk: Poets' Corner - November

5th - 26th November 2024

Times vary
Poets' Corner
Included in the price of admission

Close up photograph of St Edward and a pilgrim in s stained-glass window within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Song Recital: Journeying

Thursday, 7th November 2024

7.30pm - 9.00pm
Poets' Corner
£20

Close-up photograph of the Grave of the Unknown Warrior

Voice and Verse Readings: Remembrance

Thursday, 7th November 2024

1.00pm - 3.15pm
The Nave
Included in the price of admission

Photograph of memorial to multiple war poets in Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey

Lunchtime Talk: First World War Poets

Wednesday, 13th November 2024

1.00pm - 1.50pm
St Margaret's Church
£5

Photograph of the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in the context of the nave within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Song Recital: Remembrance

Thursday, 14th November 2024

7.30pm - 9.00pm
Poets' Corner
£20

Close-up photograph of draft poetry within a manuscript in the library within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Panel: Poets' Corners Across the Pond

Thursday, 14th November 2024

6.30pm - 7.30pm
Online
Free (booking required)

Close-up, head on photograph of a book being read by a person within Westminster Abbey

Voice and Verse Workshop: Strokes of Poetry

Saturday, 23rd November 2024

1.30pm - 4.00pm
Cheyneygates
£25

Poets' Corner: Portals of Discovery graphic

Voice and Verse evening: Portals of Discovery

Wednesday, 27th November 2024

6.30pm - 9.30pm
The Abbey
£5

Photograph of one wall of Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey

Poet Laureates

What is a Poet Laureate and which of them are memorialised at the Abbey? Curator Dr Susan Jenkins examines nine historic poet laureates, sharing details about their lives, the context in which they were writing and example lines of their poetry. 

Poet Laureates

Poets of Poets’ Corner

Go beyond their famous words to find out more about the lives and legacies of eight poets, across 700 years of English poetry, before hearing one of those poems being performed in this historic building. Each week in September and October, a new poet's video will be released.

Photograph of female marshal looking at monuments within Westminster Abbey

Geoffrey Chaucer

play button Play video
Photograph of male member of Abbey staff looking into the distance, standing within Poets' Corner

Edmund Spenser

play button Play video
Photograph of female member of Abbey staff looking up, wearing red marshal gown

Ben Jonson

play button Play video
Photograph of male member of Abbey staff looking up, standing within Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey

John Milton

play button Play video
Photograph of member of staff looking up at a memorial within Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

play button Play video
Photograph of grave of Robert Browning in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey

The Brownings

Coming soon

Photograph of memorial to Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey

The Brontës

Coming soon

Photograph of memorial for First World War poets, including Laurence Binyon, in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey

Laurence Binyon

Coming soon

Poetry for young people

Use our collection of resources at school or home to help you explore poetry across the centuries.

Worship and music

This October and November, discover poetry woven through some of the regular worship at the Abbey and Edwardtide, the annual day of pilgrimage for St Edward the Confessor.

Photograph of front covers of poetry anthologies sold in Westminster Abbey's shop

Shop

From the The Canterbury Tales to Shakespeare's sonnets to poems of World War One, continue pursuing poetry, and other forms of literature, by checking out the books in the Abbey shop.

Explore the online shop

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