Some helpful ways to get started
You can read over 3000 poems on our website, by both Scottish and international poets. Use the poem search box at the bottom of this page to find poetry by title, author, or keyword. If you’re stuck for inspiration, you can browse categories by mood, occasion, language or place.
Reading guides
- How to read a poem
- How to read a single collection
- How to read an anthology
- Familes and British Sign Language (BSL)
- How to memorise poems
Taking a novel approach
Perhaps you are in a book group, and you’d like to try poetry alongside the novels. Or you are an avid reader who hasn’t tried any poetry for ages. Where to start? Well, you might want a few recommendations to get you going. And what about the kinds of books you enjoy already?
Novel Approach lists popular novels and suggests a contemporary poetry collection that gets to the heart of each one. We’ve picked collections in print wherever possible, by living poets from the UK or Scotland. We’ve also added some further ideas for poets you could try. Altogether, there are some far-fetched connections that still work – and there are bound to be some great pairings we haven’t thought of. Try a few of the combinations and let us know what you think.