Plus the full touring route for the new flagship national project taking a mobile National Poetry Library to over 28,000 people in 11 coastal towns across the UK
Friday 29 May – Saturday 26 September 2026
The Southbank Centre has announced poet Roger McGough as the celebrity ambassador for A Poet In Every Port, alongside the full touring route for the new national flagship national project bringing a mobile National Poetry Library to 11 coastal towns across the UK including Dundee. Inspired by the travelling exhibitions of the 1951 Festival of Britain, it forms a key part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary national programme.
Led by the Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library in collaboration with 11 partners, A Poet In Every Port brings a selection of the world's largest public collection of modern poetry, alongside free public events, workshops and poetry readings to each nation of the UK, from North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, to Penzance in Cornwall; Bangor in Northern Ireland to Caernarfon in Wales.
Leisure & Culture Dundee will welcome A Poet in Every Port to The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum on Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 June as part of the Dundee Book Festival.
For the duration of A Poet in Every Port there will be a New Poets Collective is made up of poets from each of the tour’s locations; poets who’ll work closely with their communities to tell stories, celebrate local dialects and languages, and show that poetry is for everyone. In Dundee, that poet will be Cat MacLeod who is originally from Falkland in Fife and now based near Dundee.
Cat MacLeod, from the New Poets Collective said:
“I am excited to be part of New Poets Collective, especially with a cohort from so many amazing places in the UK! I feel very lucky to have been selected as a Dundee representative, especially knowing so many brilliant poets in this city. It will be really great to have the mobile poetry library visit, to highlight the poetry collections in Dundee Libraries and have more support for the vibrant poetry scene locally.”
Anna Day, Head of Culture and Libraries at Leisure & Culture Dundee said:
“We’re excited to celebrate Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary celebrations by including A Poet in Every Port in the 2026 Dundee Book Festival. We love a bold idea in Dundee and this is an excellent opportunity for us to be part of this UK wide creative programme. We’re also delighted that the project will showcase the talent of Dundee based poet Cat MacLeod who will connect with communities and represent our city as part of this poetic journey.”
Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said:
“We're thrilled to welcome Roger McGough as ambassador for A Poet In Every Port. Hailed as ‘the patron saint of poetry’, Roger is one of Britain’s most beloved wordsmiths, defined by a signature blend of Merseyside wit, accessibility, and warmth. He has a unique ability to bridge the gap between literary excellence and community engagement, making him the perfect figurehead to unite our 11 partner organisations and champion our shared voyage.
This intergenerational project sees our National Poetry Library taking their bespoke collection on the road, navigating our coastal communities and the unique poetry and spoken word that gives voice to them. This is a key project in the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary programme, where we consider what it means to be the arts centre of the future, and how, through creativity and culture, we can make a difference to people’s lives. In collaboration with our partners, the project will engage with hundreds of schoolchildren from across the UK, aged 8 - 16 and community groups.
In our 75th year, A Poet In Every Port provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate the significant role poetry has played in the Southbank Centre's history, while creating a lasting contemporary archive of modern coastal voices for the future”.
Roger McGough, ambassador for A Poet In Every Port, said:
“May I begin by saying how honoured and excited I feel about being appointed Ambassador for such a worthwhile project, helping to promote something that has been central to me my whole life: Poetry. And not only poetry, but the Southbank Centre itself, because I remember when I was 14 being brought to London by my parents and being overawed by the Festival of Britain celebrations. Until then I thought only Liverpudlians knew how to enjoy themselves.
As ambassador I will help promote something I have loved all my life. Helping others reach out and touch people through poetry. Guiding the reader towards thoughts and ideas they didn't know they had. Above all else, writing poetry is what helps us feel human, vulnerable and yet powerful, and above all, alive”.
Please visit the Leisure & Culture Dundee website for information on the programme activities and schedule at each location from Spring 2026. For more information about the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary celebrations, visit our 75th Anniversary page. For more information on the project, visit the A Poet in Every Port page.