National Poetry Day 2011

National Poetry Day 2011 will be held on Thursday 6 October. This year's theme is 'Games'.

It’s a great time for poets to get together and share their interest in poetry and to raise awareness of poetry through the media, and some festivals, for instance the Essex Poetry Festival, arrange their events to tap into this awareness.

The theme, which changes every year, is intended to give a focus to events and stimulate attempts at writing in schools and amongst others who need that extra spur to awaken their creativity. But is the theme this year a deliberate attempt to tap into a national obsession with sport, a happy co-incidence approaching Olympic year, or a cynical attempt to tick some boxes on a grant application form? And can the arbitrary selection of a theme result in great poetry?