Welcome to the new website of the John Clare Society. Whether you are just discovering the poetry of John Clare or are an established expert in the field, we hope you will find much here of value and interest. The new site includes everything you would have found on the old one and much more besides. Among the resources carried over, we can give you … Continue reading New website for the Society
Northampton artist Tamsyn Payne exhibiting her painting of green service cabinets, including some attributed words from John Clare. Tamsyn’s work forms part of a project titled Northampton Cabinet Art, launched in July 2025, which aims to ‘bring joy to Northampton one cabinet at a time’ by enabling local artists to decorate the usually dark olive green metal or plastic cabinets used by media companies to … Continue reading ‘To look on past joys…’
The John Clare Festival 2026 from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th July has something for everyone… Whether you’re a Clare connoisseur, a nature-lover, or simply live in and around Helpston, we have talks, poetry, a concert, open gardens, artists’ exhibitions, tasty lunches, Morris Dancers, folk music and family activities. And this year we are celebrating the 45th anniversary of the John Clare Society! Dedicated to … Continue reading John Clare Festival timetable, 2026
The British Library has acquired the archive of the great writer on English rural life Ronald Blythe, founder President of the John Clare Society and author of Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village. Blythe, who died in 2023 at the age of one hundred, never made use of a computer, but his papers, which run to a million pages, are said to have been kept … Continue reading Ronald Blythe at the British Library
The John Clare Society Journal for 2025 is out now. Issue 44 runs to 80 pages and includes articles on gossips and gossiping in John Clare’s poetry, the psychophysiological function of itch in John Clare’s writing and more, plus book reviews. Copies of the Journal are sent directly to members. Find out more about back issues of the Journal. Continue reading John Clare Society Journal 2025
The John Clare Society is pleased to announce the publication of a new selection of Clare’s poetry and prose edited by Mike Mecham, with illustrations by Petra Wonham and John Bangay. Justly renowned for poems about the natural world, this anthology broadens our view of Clare’s work by exploring the people inhabiting his world, revealing in the process both his deep humanity and sharp social … Continue reading Clare’s People – a new publication
Roll up, roll up, not for the fair but for something just as much fun because of the variety of events on offer, all in one place, Helpston, over two Summer days. The celebrations start on Friday 11th July 2025 at St. Botolph’s Church when the children of the John Clare Primary School gather to bring their Midsummer Cushions and to receive prizes in the annual Poetry … Continue reading John Clare Society Festival 2025
This year we are having a two-day Festival, starting on Friday July 12th with the traditional laying of the Midsummer Cushions on John Clare’s grave, from 1pm. The entire John Clare Primary School will be going to St. Botolph’s Church in class groups and everyone is invited to attend – parents, grandparents, carers, friends, siblings, anyone else living locally, and visitors. It is always a happy occasion. The … Continue reading John Clare Society Festival 2024
Read more about past festivals below. You don’t have to be a member of the Society in order to attend – and we are a very friendly bunch! The Importance of Tradition (15 – 17 July 2022) After the disappointments of the previous years, we were finally able to return to Helpston for the John Clare Society Festival. Speakers included Robert Hamberger (reading from his … Continue reading Festival reports, 2013-2022
The John Clare Society 