Performing poetry

Do you love poems and sharing them with the world? Why not try…

Have you ever had to learn a poem for school and recite it in front of your friends? If so, well done – you’re already a pro at performing poetry.

Performing poetry is simply learning a poem and reading it aloud, whether in front of friends, family or a bigger audience. It can be a poem you’ve written or learnt. The main thing is that you enjoy it, whether you’re learning a nonsense poem, a rhyme to make a friend laugh or a more serious piece to commemorate an event.

“Choose a poem you like, and it will be a lot more fun to learn,” says Allie Esiri, poetry expert and editor of

A Poem for Every Day of the Year. “When starting off, you could choose a poem with a rhyme to make it easier to commit to memory.”

So is performing poetry just about fun? Although it should be all about enjoying yourself, it can also provide you with lots of valuable tools for the future. It can help you build confidence, boost your memory and also improve your English writing skills, because the more you do it the more comfortable you’ll become playing with words and phrases.

Worried you might find it difficult? Esiri says you shouldn’t worry. “It’s no different to learning a football chant, a nursery rhyme or a song,” she says.

“It becomes easier and easier with practice. It’s good memory training and it’s great for the mind. And, of course, it’s so much fun: it’s like having a whole iPod full of poems in your head.”