Mole Valley Poets

We are a mutually supportive group of enthusiastic poets who are committed to improving our writing skills and taking poetry into the local community. We have been meeting to encourage each other and share our work since 1999. In 2011 we became a stanza group of the Poetry Society, in order to reach more poets, benefit from a wider network of contacts and activities, and attract new members. Please see the guidelines for further information about the group.

Our annual programme includes twelve monthly meetings on the last Monday evening of the month at 7.30 p.m. join us on Zoom or in person at Oddfellows Hall, 270 High Street, Dorking RH4 1QT. The evening is divided into two parts:

The first hour includes a discussion about various aspects of poetry, or individual published poets, and is presented by one of the group members. Examples of past themes include: Haibun, Contemporary Women Poets, Leonard Cohen & Bob Dylan: Lyrics & poetry, Maitreyabandhu: Poetry as Spiritual Practice. We also invite guest poets to read from their own collections as well as offering a critique of our poems.
The second hour of our meeting is a workshop of four poems brought by members using guidelines for feedback.

Events such as the Sofa Poet and Poetry Pub are open to all - do join us.

The annual subscription is £20.

If you would like to join the group, or require further information, please contact the Secretary.

Meeting Notes

Public Events
The poet on the sofa – Clare Pollard We're pleased to welcome Clare Pollard as our guest 'on the sofa' this year. An engaging character and a good reader, Clare is widely published, is a poet, playwright, an editor, a teacher, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. as well as being a regular writer on Substack – Clare's Poetry Circle. Clare will talk about her work, read some poems, and lead an exercise or two. Clare has recently been in the Poetry Society's Poetry News (as a judge of the members' competition) and the Poetry Review (reviewing a couple of books). Their bio for Clare reads: "Clare Pollard's sixth collection of poetry is Lives of the Female Poets. Her poem Pollen was shortlisted for the Forward Prize. Clare has also recently written the children's novel The Untameables and the adult novel The Modern Fairies which won the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize. She is Artistic Director of Winchester Poetry Festival". Oddfellows Hall, 270 High Street, Dorking, RH4 1QT. Monday 29^th June 2026 7:30pm to 9:30pm Tickets £15