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Forward Prizes for Poetry
Awarded for	Best Collection (£10,000); Best First Collection (£5,000); Best Single Poem (£1,000)
Sponsored by	Forward Worldwide, Arts Council England, The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The estate of Felix Dennis
Date	1992
Location	United Kingdom

The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The prizes do this by identifying and honouring talent: collections published in the UK and Ireland over the course of the previous year are eligible, as are single poems nominated by journal editors or prize organisers. Each year, works shortlisted for the prizes – plus those highly commended by the judges – are collected in the Forward Book of Poetry.

The awards have been sponsored since their inception by the content marketing agency Bookmark, formerly Forward Worldwide. The best first collection prize is sponsored by the estate of Felix Dennis.

The Forward Prizes for Poetry celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2021. For the 2023 prizes, a new category for outstanding performance of a poem was added to the list of awards.

Awards

The Forward Prizes for Poetry consist of three awards:

• The Forward Prize for Best Collection, £10,000
• The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, £5,000
• The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in memory of Michael Donaghy, £1,000

The Prizes are run by the Forward Arts Foundation, which is also responsible for National Poetry Day. The executive director of the Forward Arts Foundation is Susannah Herbert.

Previous winners

Best Collection

Best First Collection

Best Single Poem

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of British literary awards
• English poetry
• List of poetry awards
• List of years in poetry
• List of years in literature

References

1. Creamer, Ella (30 June 2023). "Forward prizes for poetry add new award for performed poems". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
2. Forward Arts Foundation. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
3. ^ Lea, Richard (3 October 2007). "O'Brien breaks poetry record". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
4. Crown, Sarah (6 October 2004). "Forward prize goes to Kathleen Jamie". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
5. Kennedy, Maev (12 January 2015). "David Harsent wins TS Eliot prize for poetry for Fire Songs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
6. Crown, Sarah (6 October 2005). "Forward goes to David Harsent". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
7. Brown, Mark (5 October 2006). "Poet puts Heaney in shade by scooping £10,000 prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
8. ^ Flood, Alison (8 October 2008). "Mick Imlah takes Forward prize after 20-year silence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
9. Flood, Alison (7 October 2009). "Don Paterson wins the Forward poetry prize with 'masterful' collection". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
10. Page, Benedicte (6 October 2010). "Seamus Heaney wins £10k Forward poetry prize for Human Chain". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
11. Brown, Mark (5 October 2011). "John Burnside finally wins Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
12. ^ Flood, Alison (1 October 2012). "Jorie Graham takes 2012 Forward prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
13. Higgins, Charlotte (1 October 2013). "Michael Symmons Roberts wins Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
14. Davies, Caroline (30 September 2014). "Kei Miller wins Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
15. Brown, Mark (28 September 2015). "Claudia Rankine's Citizen wins Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
16. Cain, Sian (21 September 2015). "Trinidadian poet Vahni Capildeo wins 2016 Forward prize for poetry". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
17. Roffey, Monique (3 May 2022). "'The pendulum has swung': Why we female Trinidadian writers are having our moment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
18. ^ "Forward prize, backward reading: who grumbles if white writers win awards?". The Guardian. 30 September 2016. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
19. "Forward Prizes of Poetry 2017 Winners". Forward Arts Foundation. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
20. ^ "Forward Prizes for Poetry 2018". Forward Prizes for Poetry. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
21. Flood, Alison (18 September 2018). "Danez Smith becomes youngest winner of Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
22. Higgins, Charlotte (25 October 2019). "Forward prize winner Fiona Benson: 'It's still taboo to talk about rape and women's bodies'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
23. Hay, Emily (20 October 2019). "Fiona Benson wins Forward prize with Greek myth poems for #MeToo age". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
24. ^ "Bird's 'The Air Year' wins Forward Poetry Prize". Books+Publishing. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
25. Cain, Sian (25 October 2020). "Forward poetry prize goes to 'audacious, erotically charged' The Air Year". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
26. ^ Bayley, Sian (25 October 2021). "Kennard, Femi and Sealey win Forward Prizes for Poetry". The Bookseller. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
27. Flood, Alison (24 October 2021). "Luke Kennard wins Forward poetry prize for 'anarchic' response to Shakespeare". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
28. ^ "Forward Prizes for Poetry 2022 Winners". National Poetry Library. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
29. Shaffi, Sarah (28 November 2022). "Kim Moore wins Forward poetry prize for 'phenomenal' poems about everyday sexism". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
30. Poetry Book Society. "ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE FORWARD PRIZES 2023".
31. ^ "2024 Forward Prizes for Poetry winners announced". Books+Publishing. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
32. Tristram Fane Saunders (21 September 2017). "Vietnamese refugee Ocean Vuong wins 2017 Forward Prize for Poetry". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
33. Poetry Book Society. "ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE FORWARD PRIZES 2023".
34. Flood, Alison (21 September 2017). "Husband's elegy for Jenny Diski wins Forward prize for best single poem". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
35. Poetry Society. "Poetry Review poem by Malika Booker wins major award at Forward Prize 2023 announcements".

External links

• Official website

• Awards established in 1991
• 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom
• British poetry awards