Poetry Around the World
Writory's contest welcomes poems in any language, and this library honours where they come from: the traditions, movements and histories that shaped how the world writes.
South Asia
- Indian English Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Explore Indian English poetry from Toru Dutt and Sarojini Naidu to Nissim Ezekiel and Kamala Das, with craft lessons any working poet can borrow today.
- Urdu Poetry: Ghazals, Nazms, and the Mushaira Tradition: A guide to Urdu poetry: how the ghazal works, what a nazm is, the mushaira tradition, and the masters from Mir and Ghalib to Faiz and Parveen Shakir.
- Hindi Poetry: From Kabir to the Modern Kavi Sammelan: Hindi poetry explained: Kabir and the Bhakti saints, Chhayavaad romantics, Dinkar and Bachchan, and the kavi sammelan stage where verse still lives aloud.
- Bengali Poetry: Tagore, Nazrul, and Beyond: Bengali poetry from Tagore's Gitanjali and Nazrul's rebel verse to Jibanananda Das, with the forms, landmarks, and living scenes in Dhaka and Kolkata.
- Tamil Sangam Poetry: The Ancient Classical Tradition: Tamil Sangam poetry explained: akam and puram, the five tinai landscapes, anthologies like the Kuruntokai, and what this ancient craft still teaches.
- Punjabi Poetry: From Sufi Kafis to Modern Verse: Punjabi poetry from Baba Farid and Bulleh Shah's Sufi kafis to Waris Shah's Heer, Amrita Pritam, and Shiv Kumar Batalvi, with craft lessons for poets.
- Malayalam Poetry: A Guide to Kerala's Literary Tradition: Malayalam poetry from Ezhuthachan and Kunchan Nambiar to Kumaran Asan, ONV Kurup, and today's Kerala poets: landmarks, forms, and craft in one guide.
- Telugu Poetry: Classical Prabandha to Contemporary Voices: Telugu poetry from Nannaya and the prabandha masters to Vemana's satakas, Sri Sri's Mahaprasthanam, and the living avadhanam art of improvised verse.
- Marathi Poetry: Saints, Reformers, and Modern Masters: Marathi poetry from Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram's abhangs to Keshavsut, Kusumagraj, Mardhekar, and Namdeo Dhasal: a guide to Maharashtra's verse tradition.
- Kannada Poetry: Vachanas and a Thousand-Year Tradition: Kannada poetry across a thousand years: Pampa's epics, the vachanas of Basavanna and Akka Mahadevi, Kuvempu and Bendre, and today's Kannada voices.
- Gujarati Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Gujarati poetry from Narsinh Mehta's bhajans and Akho's satire to Narmad, Kalapi, Umashankar Joshi, and the modern Gujarati ghazal: a working guide.
- Sanskrit Poetry: Kavya, Epics, and Classical Aesthetics: Sanskrit poetry explained: Valmiki and Vyasa's epics, Kalidasa's kavya, rasa and dhvani aesthetics, and the craft lessons this classical art still offers.
- Nepali Poetry: From Bhanubhakta to Contemporary Voices: Nepali poetry from Bhanubhakta's Ramayana to Devkota's Muna Madan, Bhupi Sherchan, and today's poets in Nepal, Darjeeling, and the global diaspora.
East & Southeast Asia
- Japanese Poetry: Haiku, Tanka, and the Waka Tradition: Japanese poetry explained: waka and tanka, renga, and haiku with Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki, plus kigo, kireji, and lessons for poets writing today.
- Chinese Classical Poetry: From the Book of Songs to the Tang Masters: Chinese classical poetry from the Book of Songs and Qu Yuan to Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei, with the shi, ci, and jueju forms every poet should know.
- Modern Chinese Poetry: The New Culture Movement to Today: Modern Chinese poetry from Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo to the Misty Poets Bei Dao and Shu Ting, Haizi, and today's internet and migrant worker verse scenes.
- Korean Poetry: Sijo, Hyangga, and Modern Voices: Korean poetry from hyangga and sijo to Kim Sowol, Yun Dong-ju, and Kim Hyesoon: forms, landmark poets, and craft lessons from a resilient tradition.
- Vietnamese Poetry: Luc Bat, Truyen Kieu, and Beyond: Vietnamese poetry explained: the luc bat form, Nguyen Du's Truyen Kieu, Ho Xuan Huong's daring verse, the New Poetry movement, and today's voices.
- Filipino Poetry: Tanaga, Balagtasan, and Contemporary Verse: Filipino poetry from the tanaga and Balagtas's Florante at Laura to Jose Garcia Villa, Amado Hernandez, and the spoken word scenes of Manila today.
- Thai Poetry: A Guide to Classical and Modern Forms: Thai poetry explained: klon, khlong, and nirat forms, Sunthorn Phu's Phra Aphai Mani, the Ramakien epic, and modern poets like Naowarat Pongpaiboon.
- Indonesian and Malay Poetry: Pantun, Syair, and Modern Sajak: Indonesian and Malay poetry explained: the pantun and syair, Chairil Anwar's revolution in sajak, Sapardi Djoko Damono, and today's archipelago voices.
Middle East & Central Asia
- Persian Poetry: Rumi, Hafez, and the Great Divans: Persian poetry from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Rumi's Masnavi to Hafez's ghazals and Forugh Farrokhzad: forms, masters, and craft lessons for poets.
- Arabic Poetry: From Pre-Islamic Odes to Free Verse: Arabic poetry from the pre-Islamic Mu'allaqat and al-Mutanabbi to Mahmoud Darwish, Nizar Qabbani, and free verse: a guide to fifteen centuries of craft.
- Turkish Poetry: Ottoman Divan Verse to Nazim Hikmet: Turkish poetry from Yunus Emre and Ottoman divan masters to Nazim Hikmet, the Garip movement, and the Second New: a guide to the tradition's craft.
- Hebrew Poetry: From Biblical Psalms to Modern Israel: Hebrew poetry from the Psalms and Yehuda Halevi's Golden Age to Bialik, Rachel, Yehuda Amichai, and today's Israeli poets: forms, landmarks, and craft.
- Kurdish Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Kurdish poetry explained: dengbej singers, Ehmede Xani's Mem u Zin, the Nali school, and modern masters from Abdulla Goran to Sherko Bekas and Kajal Ahmad.
- Pashto Poetry: Landays, Ghazals, and the Afghan Tradition: A guide to Pashto poetry: the two-line landay, Khushal Khan Khattak's warrior verse, Rahman Baba's Sufi lyrics, and the tradition's living oral culture.
- Central Asian Turkic Poetry: From Navoi to the Akyn Bards: Central Asian Turkic poetry from Navoi's Chagatai classics to the Manas epic and improvising akyn bards, with the craft lessons the steppe tradition offers.
- Armenian Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Armenian poetry from Grigor Narekatsi's medieval lamentations to Sayat-Nova, Charents, and today's diaspora poets: history, craft, and key works.
Europe
- English Poetry: From Beowulf to the Present: English poetry traced from Beowulf and Chaucer through Shakespeare, the Romantics, and Eliot to today: key poets, forms, and what the tradition teaches.
- Irish Poetry: Yeats, Heaney, and the Gaelic Inheritance: Irish poetry from the bardic schools and aisling to Yeats, Kavanagh, Heaney, and today's Irish-language revival: key poets, forms, and craft lessons.
- Scottish Poetry: Burns, Ballads, and Three Languages: Scottish poetry across Gaelic, Scots, and English: the Border ballads, Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, and the living Makar tradition.
- Welsh Poetry: Cynghanedd, Eisteddfods, and Dylan Thomas: Welsh poetry from Taliesin and cynghanedd's strict harmonies to the eisteddfod tradition, R. S. Thomas, and Dylan Thomas: a guide to the tradition.
- French Poetry: From the Troubadours to the Symbolists: French poetry from troubadour song and Villon through Hugo, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarme: the alexandrine, the prose poem, and what poets can learn.
- Spanish Poetry: The Golden Age, Lorca, and the Generation of '27: Spanish poetry from the Cantar de mio Cid and Golden Age mystics to Machado, Lorca, and the Generation of '27, with craft lessons from the romance ballad.
- Portuguese Poetry: Camoes, Pessoa, and Fado's Verse: Portuguese poetry from the medieval cantigas and Camoes's national epic to Pessoa's heteronyms, Sophia de Mello Breyner, and the sung verse of fado houses.
- Italian Poetry: Dante, Petrarch, and the Sonnet's Birthplace: Italian poetry from the Sicilian School's invention of the sonnet through Dante's terza rima and Petrarch to Leopardi and Montale: a poet's guide.
- German Poetry: Goethe, Rilke, and Celan: German poetry from Minnesang and Goethe's lyric genius to Hölderlin, Rilke's Duino Elegies, and Celan's post-war language: history and craft lessons.
- Russian Poetry: Pushkin, Akhmatova, and the Silver Age: Russian poetry from Pushkin's Eugene Onegin through the Silver Age of Akhmatova, Mandelstam, and Tsvetaeva to Brodsky: a full guide to the tradition.
- Polish Poetry: Milosz, Szymborska, and a Nation in Verse: Polish poetry from Kochanowski's Laments and Mickiewicz's national epics to the Nobel laureates Milosz and Szymborska, Herbert, and Rozewicz's bare verse.
- Ukrainian Poetry: Shevchenko to the Contemporary Renaissance: Ukrainian poetry from Shevchenko's Kobzar and Lesya Ukrainka through the Executed Renaissance and Vasyl Stus to today's wartime generation of poets.
- Greek Poetry: From Homer and Sappho to Cavafy and Elytis: Greek poetry across three millennia: Homer's epics, Sappho's fragments, Byzantine hymns, and the modern masters Cavafy, Seferis, Elytis, and Ritsos.
- Scandinavian Poetry: Norse Sagas, Skalds, and Nordic Modernism: Scandinavian poetry from eddic verse and skaldic kennings to Tranströmer, Södergran, and Inger Christensen: the Nordic tradition and its craft lessons.
- Dutch and Flemish Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Dutch and Flemish poetry from the mystic Hadewijch and Vondel to Van Ostaijen's typographic experiments and today's poets laureate and festivals.
- Hungarian Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Hungarian poetry from Balassi and Petofi's revolutionary songs to Attila Jozsef, Radnoti's notebook, and Pilinszky: a guide to a singular tradition.
- Yiddish Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Yiddish poetry from folk song and the sweatshop poets to Sutzkever, Celia Dropkin, and the Introspectivists: a guide to the tradition and its revival.
Africa
- Nigerian Poetry: Soyinka, Okigbo, and New Generation Voices: Nigerian poetry from Yoruba oriki and Hausa verse through Okigbo and Nobel laureate Soyinka to Osundare and today's prize-winning new generation.
- South African Poetry: Protest, Praise, and Eleven Languages: South African poetry across eleven languages: izibongo praise poets, Ingrid Jonker, the Soweto generation, and post-apartheid voices like Koleka Putuma.
- Swahili Poetry: Utenzi, Shairi, and the East African Coast: Swahili poetry from the utenzi epics and Muyaka's shairi to Shaaban Robert and the free verse debate: a guide to East Africa's coastal tradition.
- Ghanaian Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: Ghanaian poetry from Ewe dirges and Akan drum poetry to Kofi Awoonor, Atukwei Okai, and Accra's thriving spoken word scene: a guide to the tradition.
- Ethiopian Poetry: Qene and the Amharic Tradition: Explore Ethiopian poetry: qene wordplay, the wax and gold technique, Amharic masters like Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, and where the tradition stands today.
- Francophone African Poetry: Negritude and Beyond: Francophone African poetry from the Negritude of Senghor, Cesaire, and Damas to today's slam scenes in Dakar and Abidjan: history, craft, and key works.
- Somali Oral Poetry: The Nation of Poets: Somalia is the nation of poets: for centuries verse settled disputes, declared wars and carried news. The gabay and buraanbur, and poets like Hadraawi.
The Americas
- American Poetry: Whitman, Dickinson, and the Making of a Voice: American poetry from Whitman and Dickinson to the modernists, the Beats, and today's poets laureate: how the United States found its voice in verse.
- African American Poetry: From Phillis Wheatley to Amanda Gorman: African American poetry from Phillis Wheatley to Amanda Gorman: the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, new forms, and the poets who built a canon.
- Native American Poetry: Oral Traditions and Contemporary Voices: Native American poetry from ceremonial song to Joy Harjo and Natalie Diaz: oral traditions, key poets, craft lessons, and the tradition's living present.
- Canadian Poetry: A Guide to the Tradition: A guide to Canadian poetry: the Confederation Poets, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Anne Carson, and the bilingual, many voiced tradition of today.
- Latin American Poetry: Neruda, Paz, and Poetry of the Continent: Latin American poetry from Ruben Dario's modernismo to Neruda, Vallejo, Paz, and Mistral: the movements, the craft, and the festivals keeping it alive.
- Mexican Poetry: Sor Juana to the Present: Mexican poetry from Nezahualcoyotl and Sor Juana to Octavio Paz and today's indigenous language revival: key poets, works, and craft across five centuries.
- Brazilian Poetry: From Modernismo to Marginal Verse: Brazilian poetry from the modernismo of 1922 to concrete poetry and today's sarau scene: Drummond, Bandeira, Cabral, and the marginal generation.
- Caribbean Poetry: Walcott, Brathwaite, and Dub Verse: Caribbean poetry from Walcott and Brathwaite to dub and spoken word: nation language, key poets across English, French, and Spanish, and today's voices.
- Chicano and Latinx Poetry: Bilingual Voices of the Borderlands: Chicano and Latinx poetry explained: I Am Joaquin, Anzaldua's borderlands, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, code switching craft, and today's leading voices.
Oceania & Islands
Movements & Schools
- Sufi Poetry: Mystical Verse from Rumi to Bulleh Shah: Sufi poetry from Rumi, Hafez, and Attar to Bulleh Shah and qawwali: the mystical tradition, its ghazal craft, and why it still moves readers everywhere.
- Bhakti Poetry: Devotional Verse of Mirabai, Kabir, and Tukaram: Bhakti poetry explained: Mirabai, Kabir, Tukaram, and the devotional movement that turned India's vernaculars into vehicles for ecstatic, personal verse.
- Romanticism in Poetry: Wordsworth, Keats, and the Movement That Changed Verse: Romanticism in poetry: how Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Blake changed verse forever, the movement's key works, and what poets can still learn.
- Modernist Poetry: Eliot, Pound, and Breaking the Form: Modernist poetry from Prufrock to The Waste Land: how Eliot, Pound, H.D., and their circle broke the form, and the techniques poets still use today.
- Imagism: The Movement That Stripped Poetry to the Image: Imagism explained: Pound, H.D., and Amy Lowell's short lived movement, its rules for the hard clear image, and why every workshop still teaches its lessons.
- Harlem Renaissance Poetry: Hughes, Cullen, and a Cultural Awakening: Harlem Renaissance poetry explained: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, the magazines and salons of 1920s Harlem, and the craft it invented.
- Beat Poetry: Ginsberg, Kerouac, and the Howl Generation: Beat poetry from Howl and the Six Gallery reading to Snyder, di Prima, and Corso: the movement's story, its long breath craft, and its living legacy.
- Confessional Poetry: Plath, Sexton, and the Poetry of the Self: Confessional poetry explained: Lowell's Life Studies, Plath, Sexton, and Berryman, the craft behind the rawness, and how to write the self without wreckage.
- Slam and Spoken Word: Poetry Off the Page: Slam and spoken word poetry: from Marc Smith's Chicago slam to Def Poetry and Button Poetry, the three minute craft, and how to start performing.
- Concrete Poetry: When Words Become Visual Art: Concrete poetry from George Herbert's Easter Wings to Brazil's Noigandres group and Eugen Gomringer: how poems became visual art, and how to make one.
- The Haiku Tradition Worldwide: How a Japanese Form Went Global: How haiku travelled from Basho's Japan to poets everywhere: the story of the global haiku tradition, with kigo, kireji and craft lessons for today.
- Oral Epic Traditions: From Homer to the Griots and Beyond: Oral epic traditions from Homer and the griots to the Kyrgyz Manas: how singers compose vast poems in performance, and what poets can learn from them.
- Protest Poetry: Verse as Resistance Across the World: Protest poetry from Shelley and Claude McKay to Faiz and Darwish: how poets turn anger into lasting verse, and the craft behind poems of resistance.
- War Poetry: From Wilfred Owen to Contemporary Conflict Verse: War poetry from Homer and Wilfred Owen to Komunyakaa and Kaminsky: how poets have written combat, grief and survival, and the craft behind conflict verse.
- Ecopoetry: Writing the Planet in an Age of Crisis: Ecopoetry explained: how poets from John Clare to Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner write the living planet, and the craft of nature poetry in an age of climate crisis.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated September 2026.
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