Roger McGough Named Ambassador for A POET IN EVERY PORT, Announces UK Tour
The project is inspired by the travelling exhibitions of the 1951 Festival of Britain.
The Southbank Centre has announced poet Roger McGough as the celebrity ambassador for A Poet In Every Port, alongside the full touring route for the project bringing the National Poetry Library to 11 coastal towns across the UK. Inspired by the travelling exhibitions of the 1951 Festival of Britain, it forms a key part of the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary national programme.
Led by a touring version of the Southbank Centre's National Poetry Library in collaboration with 11 partners, A Poet In Every Port brings a selection of the world's largest public collection of modern poetry in a new mobile library, alongside free public events, workshops and poetry readings. The mobile National Poetry Library travels to each nation of the UK, from North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, to Penzance in Cornwall; Bangor in Northern Ireland to Caernarfon in Wales.
Kicking off in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk on 29 May 2026, the project celebrates the UK's diverse dialects and languages and tells the stories of our coastal communities in poetry and spoken word throughout its journey. Mid-tour, the mobile National Poetry Library visits the Southbank Centre's Poetry International festival in London (12 July).
The mobile National Poetry Library features unique poetry collections, a recording studio, and space for workshops. Visitors of all ages are free to browse the collection, take part in free workshops and watch performances by local poets. They can also submit their own Word Exchange poem in a national competition. Anyone in the UK will be able to get involved via social media. Full details on how to participate will be released in May.
As ambassador, Roger McGough will launch the tour in Great Yarmouth on 29 May and join the mobile National Poetry Library at a number of stops across the tour. He will also write a specially commissioned new Word Exchange poem to launch the national competition, and support the schools activity across the tour.
Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: “We're thrilled to welcome Roger McGough as ambassador for A Poet In Every Port. Hailed as ‘the patron saint of poetry', Roger is one of Britain's most beloved wordsmiths, defined by a signature blend of Merseyside wit, accessibility, and warmth. He has a unique ability to bridge the gap between literary excellence and community engagement, making him the perfect figurehead to unite our 11 partner organisations and champion our shared voyage.
“This is a key project in the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary programme, where we consider what it means to be the arts centre of the future, and how, through creativity and culture, we can make a difference to people's lives.”
Roger McGough, ambassador for A Poet In Every Port, said: “May I begin by saying how honoured and excited I feel about being appointed ambassador for such a worthwhile project, helping to promote something that has been central to me my whole life: Poetry. And not only poetry, but the Southbank Centre itself, because I remember when I was 14 being brought to London by my parents and being overawed by the Festival of Britain celebrations. Until then I thought only Liverpudlians knew how to enjoy themselves.
“As ambassador I will help promote something I have loved all my life. Helping others reach out and touch people through poetry. Guiding the reader towards thoughts and ideas they didn't know they had. Above all else, writing poetry is what helps us feel human, vulnerable and yet powerful, and above all, alive”.
At the heart of the project is a new cohort of the New Poets Collective, which has been formed to support emerging poets from each region A Poet In Every Port is visiting. They will lead the mobile National Poetry Library's free activities in each location, working closely with the partners to celebrate local dialects and languages, and engage the wider community and public, showing that poetry is for everyone.
Poet and lead tutor of the Southbank Centre's New Poets Collective, Vanessa Kisuule said: “We are excited to work with poets from all over the UK and continue to bring our playful, iterative collective experience to this group over the next two years. We hope that the combination of workshops, thoughtful collaborations with their local communities and support from the National Poetry Library will help them to flourish as poets and people”.
FULL TOUR SCHEDULE
Fri 29 – Sat 30 May
Great Yarmouth
Sat 6 – Sun 7 June
Weston-super-Mare
Super Culture
Tues 16 – Weds 17 June
North Uist, Scotland
Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre
Sat 20 – Sun 21 June
Dundee, Scotland
Fri 26 June
Thames Estuary
Sat 27 – Sun 28 June
Southend
Mon 6 – Tues 7 July
Penzance
Thurs 9 – Fri 10 July
Caernarfon, Wales
Sun 12 July
London
Southbank Centre (Poetry International)
Sat 25 – Sun 26 July
Blackpool
Fri 18 – Sat 19 Sept
South Shields
The Word: National Centre for the Written Word
Fri 25 – Sat 26 Sept
Bangor, Northern Ireland
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