The reputation of Romantic poet, critic and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge has long been overshadowed by William Wordsworth, his friend and Lyrical Ballads co-author. Oxford professor Seamus Perry talks us through the books that showcase Coleridge’s idiosyncratic brilliance.  

Poetry book sales are bigger this year than ever before, and the form is ‘about to reach many, many more people,’ says the head of the Forward Arts Foundation. Here’s a diagnosis of the year in poetry – and a prescription for years to come  

As distinctions between traditional and avant-garde, central and marginal dissolve, poet and critic Stephanie Burt discusses some of America’s most exciting contemporary poets, who are speaking to and from diverse experiences and backgrounds – sometimes with a disco beat

It may not have been a good year for many things, but 2016 was a great year for poetry. British poet Helen Mort talks us through her favourite new poetry collections.

Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy has inspired countless thinkers and writers since it was first published almost 700 years ago. Here, Dante scholar and author Nick Havely picks the best five books on how one medieval poet had such a lasting impact on world literature, and how Dante’s vitality transmits into modern culture.

Freud said he owed them everything and even people who have never read a poem in their lives speak their language today. Professor and author Gillen D’Arcy Wood introduces the greatest Romantic poets.

William Wordsworth probably did not get his greatest creative impetus from solitude, but from his extremely close relationship with his sister, suggests Oxford scholar Lucy Newlyn

The Romanian-born poet tells us about his love for fantastic and magical tales – particularly bloody ones with cannibalism, necrophilia and alienated heroes.

Who read Byron in his time? How much did a copy of Wordsworth cost? The scholar guides us through the astonishing history of reading in the Romantic period of English literature

The translator and poet says there is no one road when it comes to translating Chinese poetry, and chooses five anthologies that capture its magic

The Irish poet and writer finds inspiration in the work of friends and fellow poets who combine relishing the wonders of the physical universe with a mystic, religious side – all best discussed over a few pints

The award-winning Northern Irish poet reveals why the inimitable Sylvia Plath is not always a good influence on young poets and why sublimation of the self is sometimes better than self-expression

Wit, intelligence, compassion and an ability to shock are the qualities valued by the poet, author and painter, who talks about taking advice from Dad (Ted Hughes) and why she didn’t write for ten years

The Scottish poet and novelist chooses a life-affirming anthology and celebrates new female voices, contemporary black British talent and a poet with a quirky take on everything.

The poet, broadcaster and “patron saint of poetry” says all children are poets and reveals why daydreaming is good for you. Here he chooses anthologies for all ages, which have “a fresh look and a fresh listen”

In the first instalment of our Poetry Series, the National Poet of Wales tells us why many teachers are better than actors at reading poetry

According to Graber, poetry demands that readers and thinkers slow down; just as a poem emerges through careful attention, it demands and recreates that kind of attention within the reader

The Dutch army captain whose unit secured Tuzla airbase for the incoming UN aid in 1994 talks about the books he kept with him in Bosnia, and the inspiration for his Yugoslav novel, King of Tuzla