prizes
-
Big congratulations to my friend and erstwhile colleague Alison Lang, whose short-story collection Caint na Caileige Caillte has been shortlisted for the first book award in the Saltire Society Literary Awards this year! Readers furth of Scotland may not be familiar with this prize, but it’s a significant achievement in Scottish terms. Fingers crossed for
-
Yesterday, the winner of the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize was announced as JO Morgan for Natural Mechanical. It’s a fine book and a deserving winner. A book-length narrative poem that so deftly handles shifts in time, perspective and voice would be an impressive achievement at any point in a poet’s writing life, but to produce
-
An even happier national poetry day than normal here, as I can reveal that The Ambulance Box has been shortlisted for the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize! I’m joined on the shortlist by Forward nominee and fellow Salt author Siân Hughes, Forward nominee J O Morgan, Templar poet Dawn Wood and a name new to me:
-
Yesterday, my copy of The Forward Book of Poetry 2010 arrived through the post. And a lovely job they’ve done of it too. The cover design is strong, elegant, and simple; the book is pleasantly thick and chunky in the hand. Indeed, the back cover proclaims it “the biggest yet” of the Forward books, with
-
This week, Carol Ann Duffy launched her new poetry prize: the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry for the most exciting contribution to poetry in that year. It’s a generous gesture from the new laureate, though questions have been asked about whether we need another poetry award. The test will be the shortlists:
-
Huge congratulations to Helena Nelson on HappenStance press being shortlisted for the publisher’s award in the inaugural Michael Marks pamphlet awards. It’s much deserved, as Nell has done a huge amount to boost the publishing careers of numerous poets and the world of poetry chapbooks in the UK, not only through her own quality productions
-
The Today programme’s interview with Jen Hadfield is here, along with all the recordings they’ve done of the other shortlisted writers. Worth a listen. She sounds a touch tired. Good on her! Seeing the shortlist again just emphasises how stunning a success this is for her. Not just for her, but for the younger poetry
-
Jings, as my dad might say, Jen Hadfield has won the TS Eliot! Andrew Motion describes her as “a remarkably original poet near the beginning of what is obviously going to be a distinguished career”, an assessment with which I wouldn’t quibble*. Nigh-No-Place is certainly an interesting, stimulating, rich book. The prize must be an
-
Mick Imlah, whose second book of poems, The Lost Leader, won the 2008 Forward prize for best collection and is shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize, has died. He was only 52. Timor mortis conturbat me.
-
The Ambulance Box grows ever closer to becoming a reality. Chris at Salt and I have just settled on 1 March 2009 as the publication date. If that seems far away to you, as it does to some friends I talk to, it seems tantalisingly close to me! Speaking of Salt, Will Stone’s collection Glaciation
-
Mick Imlah, Kathryn Simmonds and Don Paterson. No real surprise on the main Forward prize and possibly not an enormous surprise on the best poem prize, but Kathyrn Simmonds’s win in the best first collection category seems to have been unexpected. To be honest, I can’t really comment, not having read any of the winners
-
Dropped into the Scottish Poetry Library to pick up a couple of the books on the shortlist for the Forward best first collection prize. I’ve decided to focus on that prize because of the stage I’m at in my own publishing history. Frances Leviston‘s and Andrew Forster‘s books were the only two from the list
-
In the past few days, this year’s Forward Prize shortlists have been announced. Here they are in full: Main PrizeJamie McKendrick – Crocodiles & Obelisks (Faber)Sujata Bhatt – Pure Lizard (Carcanet)Mick Imlah – The Lost Leader (Faber)Jane Griffiths- Another Country (Bloodaxe)Jen Hadfield – Nigh-No-Place (Bloodaxe)Catherine Smith – Lip (Smith Doorstop) First Book Simon Barraclough –
-
Somehow, I had missed until the middle of this week the news that Edwin Morgan has won this year’s Sundial Scottish Arts Council book of the year award for A Book of Lives. Shame on me! Not having read the collection–or any of the other finalists, for that matter–I can’t comment on its merits, but
-
Mark Ogle’s family and several Shore Poets past and present. Alison playing. The Mark Ogle Memorial Poem trophy. Hamish Whyte, Jacob Polley and Diana Hendry relax. Angus Peter Campbell receives the trophy from Lizzie and Deborah. Angus Peter with Mark Ogle’s family. (These photos, with full tags, are also on the Shore Poets Facebook pages.)
Amy Jo Philip 