The Forward Prizes for Poetry, widely regarded as the most prestigious awards in the UK and Ireland’s poetry calendar, have officially opened for submissions for their 2025 edition. Since their inception in 1992, the prizes have celebrated the finest voices in poetry, from emerging talents to literary giants, with a roll call of past winners that includes Simon Armitage, Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy, and Claudia Rankine. This year, the awards continue to honour exceptional poetic achievements across four categories: Notably, the Best Single Poem – Performed category has broadened its scope, now inviting submissions directly from poets themselves as…
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Peter Gizzi’s Fierce Elegy has been honored with the TS Eliot Prize, a prestigious accolade recognizing the most exceptional poetry collection published in the UK and Ireland. This £25,000 award, regarded as a pinnacle of poetic achievement, celebrates Gizzi’s masterful exploration of grief and loss. Deeply informed by the mourning of his two brothers, the collection dares to confront the profoundest questions of existence, weaving a lyrical sequence that is at once haunting and illuminating. The judges, in their admiration, praised the collection for its boldness and its ability to grapple with life’s most daunting uncertainties, elevating Fierce Elegy as…
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Sun 12 Jan 2025, 7pm Hear the best new poetry coming out of the UK and Ireland, read by the ten shortlisted poets for this year’s prize, in an event hosted by poet Ian McMillan. The TS Eliot Prize, widely regarded as the most prestigious award in poetry, has unveiled its eagerly anticipated shortlist for 2024. Known for recognizing both established literary giants and groundbreaking emerging voices, the prize continues its legacy of reshaping the poetic landscape. Judging Panel This year’s shortlist was meticulously curated by an esteemed panel of judges, including Mimi Khalvati (Chair), Hannah Sullivan, and Anthony Joseph,…
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T. S. Eliot Prize 2024: Spotlight on Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam The T. S. Eliot Prize 2024 shortlist has been unveiled, celebrating ten exceptional collections that reflect the evolving landscape of contemporary poetry. Among these works is Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam, a visceral and resonant exploration of identity, ancestry, and existential longing. Odubanjo’s Adam anchors itself in themes of creation and loss, threading personal and collective narratives through richly textured language. One of its standout poems, “A Story About Water,” first appeared in The Poetry Review (Autumn 2020) and has since become emblematic of Odubanjo’s ability to weave the elemental with the…
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The Aké Arts and Book Festival, Africa’s largest literary celebration, is set to return for its highly anticipated 12th edition. Scheduled to take place from November 20 to 23, 2024, at Bon Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, this year’s festival promises an exciting array of events under the theme: Finding Freedom. Founded by Lola Shoneyin, award-winning author and cultural advocate, the festival has become a cornerstone of Nigeria’s literary and cultural landscape, attracting writers, thinkers, and audiences from across the globe. The 2024 theme, Finding Freedom, delves into the universal human pursuit of autonomy amidst adversity. Festival founder Lola Shoneyin shared…
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Ehiorobo Derek, Kyle Okeke are Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2024 joint winners
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We’re a charity awarding £1,000 grants to people of colour based in the UK who want to bring a new creative project to life. We support creativity in all its forms including: poetry, paintings, fashion, zines, music, food, flowers, photographs, workshops, events or something else completely. Applications are now open until 7th May, 6pm! Who can apply? To apply, you need to identify as Black, Asian, Brown and/or part of the Global Majority aged 18 or over and based in the UK. For all other information and tips on making the best application possible – you can find detailed application…
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OPPORTUNITY:INTRODUCING THE BLACK POETS MASTERCLASS SERIES. Obsidian Foundation is proud to announce the Black Poets Masterclass Series in partnership with Arvon, Royal Society of Literature, The National Poetry Library and The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. From May to December 2023, four award-winning poets, Dzifa Benson, Anthony Joseph, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Jason Allen-Paisant will explore four distinct areas of the Black poetry canon, looking at Black writers past and present from Africa, the US, the Caribbean and the UK. Join us over the course of 8 months for a deep dive into the Black poetry canon, equipping you to explore what a decolonised poetry canon might look like and…
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Olayinka Yaqub Wins the 2023 Awele Creative Trust Award
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This event signifies a renewed interest in the spoken word and demonstrates the transformative potential of poetry in the digital age.