National Poetry Day, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical, will mark its 21st birthday on Thursday 8 October 2015.

All are invited to join in, breaking with the tyranny of prose by thinking of a poem and sharing it in imaginative ways. Expect the airwaves to be full of verse, while impromptu poetry festivals and read-a-thons will pop up in thousands of unexpected places, from shops, streets and offices to waiting rooms and train stations.

This year’s National Poetry Day theme is Light: proprietors of power stations and lighthouses, opticians, photographers and firework-makers are among the professions pledged to participate by displaying poems.

Start planning your participation now – and let us know via your libraries Facebook or Twitter – we’d love to hear your poetry and your celebration.