In April 2009, as part of it’s 80th anniversary celebrations, Faber will launch ‘52 Poems’ – a Poem a Week web application – which will showcase poetry by exciting new voices as well as cherished classics.

Poetry has always been at the heart of Faber and Faber’s publishing programme, and through the years it has been home to such great poets as T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Seamus Heaney, Louis MacNeice and Simon Armitage.

2009 marks the 80th anniversary of Faber, which will see a year-long festival of special events and publications, looking back over eight decades of cultural endeavour. Faber’s poetry list will be central to these celebrations, through a rich list of new collections, republished classics and special promotions and partnerships. 52 Poems – a web application that displays a Poem a Week throughout the year – will be at the core of our online campaign, and will also form a key part of the poetry section of www.faber.co.uk.

Drawing on the incredible range of poems in the Faber canon, and themed to reflect seasons, holidays and events, 52 Poems is an exciting, simple way to discover new poets and enjoy classic works and authors. For poetry newcomers, 52 Poems acts as an introduction, or a taster, to generate interest in poetry as a whole, as well as drawing attention to the brilliant poets on the Faber list, and motivating readers to buy.

The widget, available from www.52poems.co.uk, can be shared and embedded on social network profiles, blogs and homepages. Faber’s

ambition is to generate conversation and build a buzz around the poems, and the widget allows readers to forward their favourites by email, as well as offering the embedding functionality.

Users can copy and display their own widget, even selecting from a range of colour options, which reflect the iconic typographic design of the Faber poetry book jackets (Faber Flickr). Faber hopes that this will be adopted by the literary bloggers, becoming a fixed feature on these influential websites, and reaching an even wider readership.

52 Poems is also available as a Facebook application, which can be added to users’ personal profiles, thereby sharing the current poem with friends. As the most popular social network, Facebook offers enormous viral and word-of-mouth potential.

Acting as a celebration of the poetic form as well as of the Faber list, Faber hopes that 52 Poems will take poetry to a wider audience, by opening a new portal for readers to engage with it in their online social spaces, and translating that enjoyment into actual purchase.

To celebrate the launch we have some fantastic prizes to give away, 2 winners will each receive a lovely limited edition box set, featuring classic works from some of Faber’s best-known twentieth-century poets