Poems as Friends

The Poetry Exchange is an award-winning podcast and project that celebrates the role poetry plays in people’s lives. In their first anthology, Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer draw on ten years of archival material to bring together a collection of poems chosen by readers that know them as friends, presented alongside their personal stories of connection. Featuring Brian Cox on John Clare, Andrew Scott on George Herbert, Maxine Peake on Tony Harrison and many more, in this gathering of poems you can reacquaint yourself with old friends, perhaps make some new ones, and enjoy the companionship poetry can offer us.

Friends that offer connection and solidarity.
Friends that help us wrestle with difficult things.
Friends that name our experiences.
Friends that comfort and help us move forward.
Friends we admire.