PIG UPDATE #23

4th of January 2026

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fun/relaxed/enjoyable festive period. While Glasgow's local event scene is easing its way slowly into the new year, there is plenty to report on when it comes to creative opportunities. And since not every New Year's resolution requires a gym membership, this PIG Update includes a little something to give your creative practice a new year boost. Scroll down to this weeks' PIG Spotlight for a few recommendations.

Events (5 to 18 January 2026)

The first Monday (5 January) of the month and the year is reserved for the monthly Candlelight Poetry Open Mic at the Old Toll Bar in Cessnock. Be there for 7:30pm to secure your own 5-minute reading slot, or just show up to be inspired.

The weekly open mic night at Hillhead Book Club, Poet's Corner is returning from the Christmas break on Wednesday, 7 January. The night's theme is still to be confirmed, so keep an eye on the organiser's Instagram if you fancy reading.

Things are finally heating up more on Friday, 9 January: Glasgow Heat returns! The country's hottest slam venture, Loud Poets returns to Glasgow for its annual slam series. The slam event will be held at the CCA this year and will feature Glasgow Champion Arlo Bayne as sacrificial poet. The full line-up of slammers is available via Instagram and it's promising to be glorious. Tickets are £10.

On Monday, 12 January, the Poetry Society is hosting an online reading group for the Winter issue of the Poetry Review. The session is designed to guide you through standout pieces, spark thoughtful discussions, and provide a deeper appreciation of the issue’s poems.

An exciting fundraising evening of performance, poetry and prizes is happening on Wednesday 14 January at the Marlborough on the Southside. Postpartum Poems presents a Big Poetry Party in support of two charities. The night will include open mic slots as well as readings from special guest Kirstin Innes and music from Hannah Doyle. As always, the focus will be on themes of pregnancy, postpartum and motherhood. Tickets are £15 and include a welcome drink, canapés and amazing sweet treats from Tantrum Doughnuts. Just a few streets away, SpeakEasy is returning to Adrian's Bar on Victoria Road the same evening. The regular open mic night with full house band will include a special set by a (yet unnamed) Scottish/World Slam Champion. If you'd rather not leave the house, you can also join Laurie Bolger for her monthly Poetry in Pyjamas online open mic event. This month, she will be joined by Malika Booker.

Another online event for dark January evenings is available on Thursday, 15 January. The Discover Poetry series by Wordsworth Grasmere continues its meandering journey through the seasons. Polly Atkin has picked a selection of classic and contemporary poems to read and discuss.

The Scottish Poetry Library is offering a special treat for anyone looking to kickstart their writing for the new year. Over three Sunday sessions in January, you can join an online New Year Wild Writing Class with Lorna French for only £5. The class on 11 January is already sold out, but you can still get tickets for the other two dates (Sunday, 18 January and 25 January). The workshop series will focus on themes of peace, sustainability and social justice.

Opportunities

Today's pick from among the long list of opportunities currently on the PIG website:

You have three more days to submit to the international literary magazine Notch. The upcoming issue is dedicated to the theme 'if/else' and the editors are looking for work that meditates on conditionality and nested possibilities. Sounds interesting? Submissions close on 7 January.

Wet Grain is a magazine for poetry and essays on matters of land-use, provenance, and ownership. The magazine is now open for submissions for its next issue. Until 15 January, you can submit up to five pages of poetry. Accepted submissions receive a fee of £75 per poem.

The submission window for the next issue of the StoryTree is still open until 25 January. The online magazine might be pretty new but it made a big splash on Glasgow's poetry scene already, so consider submitting if you can.

A slightly different opportunity is on offer via StAnza right now. Scotland's premier poetry festival is looking for submissions of poetry films. Films may have a length of up to 6 minutes and should combine poetry and film conventions and elements in an interesting way. The deadline for submissions is 31 January.

Also open until 31 January is the Irish literary journal Southword. It is a print journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. Southword pays contributors €50 per poem. It is highly recommended to get your work in early though as only the first 1,000 submissions will be considered.

PIG Spotlight

This section is designed to shine a spotlight on a particular website, organisation or feature. For each Update, I'll pick something new - either because it is plain awesome or because it's new or really topical.

January is the month of big plans and little drive. What a combination. They don't call it January blues for nothing. But fear not: PIG has got you covered. Let me present you with some fun recommendations for writing prompts to get your writing practice back on track (assuming you strayed, like myself, a little off the literary path...).

  • To coincide with its annual poetry competition, the Poetry Society publishes a veritable treasure trove of writing prompts suggested by well-known poets. Have a look through the different prompt sheets from last year and take your pick.

  • April is the official Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), but that doesn't mean that NaPoWriMo prompts only work in April. Why not go back to the official website and (re)use the daily prompts from last April?

  • Are 30 prompts not enough for you? How about 365? The blog EveryWriter published a full list for every day of the year in 2025. Pretty impressive, I have to say.

  • Naturally, you can always fall back on the much-loved and much-shared prompt (or rather idea) list by Bernadette Mayer. I have dipped in and out of this one countless times and I always find something new.

Another alternative are automated prompt generators. Not all of them are suitable for poetry, but I have found the following that may be worth a try:

Finally, I can heartily recommend Robert Peake's Tools for Poets including his list of 'Tactics for Sneaky Poets'.

PIG's Poetry Pick

Today's poetry pick is a film poem. A little nod to the StAnza call and my excuse to highlight the amazing selection of film poems that are available to watch via the Scottish Poetry Library website. It's a brilliant way to experience poetry slightly differently.

My recommendation: Filmpoem 37: How to be a Poet by Alastair Cook featuring words by Dylan Thomas.

That's it from me today. See you in two weeks!

Love,
Annie