The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry".
The Society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912. Its first President was Lady Margaret Sackville.
The Poetry Society publishes Poetry Review, Britain's leading poetry magazine, which provides a forum for poems from both new and established poets. Its editor from 2005 to 2012 was Fiona Sampson.
The Society organises several competitions, including the British National Poetry Competition, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, The Popescu Prize, The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry and the Geoffrey Dearmer Award. The society also ran the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize from 1986 to 1997.
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“Thus all probable reasoning is nothing but a species of sensation. ‘Tis not solely in poetry and music, we must follow our taste and sentiment, but likewise in philosophy, When I am convinc’d of any principle, ‘tis only an idea which strikes more strongly upon me. When I give the preference to one set of arguments above another, I do nothing but decide from my feeling concerning the superiority of their influence.”
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