The Poetry Now Award was an annual literary prize presented for the best single volume of poetry by an Irish poet. The €5,000 award was first given in 2005 (reduced to €2,500 in 2013) and presented during annual Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown poetry festivals. From 2005 to 2011, it was bestowed during the Poetry Now international poetry festival (the latter event was inaugurated in 1996) which was held in March or April each year. In 2012 and 2013, the award was given during the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival, in September ("dlr" stands for "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown"). As of 2020, The Irish Times newspaper was the sponsor of the award. In 2020, the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival was cancelled due to the restrictions relating to COVID-19.
History 2019 Winner: Eileán Ní Chuilleanáin, for The Mother House
2018 Winner: Leontia Flynn, for The Radio
Shortlist: Tara Bergin, The Tragic Death of Eleanor Marx Leontia Flynn, The Radio Conor O'Callaghan, Live Streaming Mark Roper, Bindweed David Wheatley, The President of Planet Earth
Judges:
Fran Brearton, John McAuliffe and Gerard Smyth
2017 Winner: Paddy Bushe, for On A Turning Wing
2016 Winner: Caitríona O’Reilly, for Geis
2015 Winner: Theo Dorgan, for Nine Bright Shiners
2014 Winner: Sinéad Morrissey, for Parallax
2013 Winner: Dennis O'Driscoll, for Dear Life, awarded posthumously (he died in December 2012).
Shortlist: Catherine Phil MacCarthy, The Invisible Threshold. Dennis O'Driscoll, Dear Life. Harry Clifton, The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass. James Harpur, Angels and Harvesters. Mark Roper, A Gather of Shadow.
Judges: Mary O'Donnell (poet and novelist), Peter Sirr (writer, editor, translator, and former winner), and Ruth Webster (bookseller).
2012 Winner: Michael Longley, for A Hundred Doors.Michael Longley wins €5,000 poetry prize Irish Times, 8 September 2012.Irish Times Poetry Now award winner announced The Griffin Trust, 8 September 2012.Longely wins €5,000 Poetry Now award Wake Forest University, 10 September 2012.
Shortlist: Moya Cannon, Hands. Michael Longley, A Hundred Doors. John Montague, Speech Lessons. Bernard O'Donoghue, Farmers Cross. Macdara Woods, The Cotard Dimension.Irish Times Poetry Now shortlist announced Irish Times, 22 January 2011.
Judges: Gerald Dawe, James Harpur, and Mary Shine Thompson (all poets).
2011 Winner: Seamus Heaney, for Human Chain.Heaney wins 'Irish Times' poetry award Irish Times, 26 March 2011.
Shortlist: Sara Berkeley, The View from Here. Ciarán Carson, Until Before After. Dermot Healy, A Fool's Errand. Seamus Heaney, Human Chain. Paul Muldoon, Maggot.
Judges: Brian Lynch (poet, novelist, and screenwriter), Leanne O'Sullivan (poet), and Borbála Faragó (lecturer and critic).
2010
Winner: Sinéad Morrissey, for Through the Square Window.Sinead Morrissey wins €5,000 'Irish Times' Poetry Now award Irish Times, 27 March 2010.
Shortlist: Ciarán Carson, On the Night Watch. Vona Groarke, Spindrift. Sinéad Morrissey, Through the Square Window. Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, The Sun-fish. Peter Sirr, The Thing Is.DLR Poetry Now 2010 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.
Judges: John F. Deane, Alan Gillis, and Maria Johnston.
2009
Winner: Derek Mahon, for Life on Earth.Derek Mahon Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.Mahon wins 'Irish Times' poetry prize for new collection Irish Times, 28 March 2009.
Shortlist: Colette Bryce, Self-Portrait in the Dark. Ciarán Carson, For All We Know. Leontia Flynn, Drives. Pearse Hutchinson, At Least For a While. Derek Mahon, Life on Earth.DLR Poetry Now 09 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.
Judges: Kit Fryatt, Sean O'Brien, and Joseph Woods.Poetry judges announced Irish Times, 1 December 2008.
2008
Winner: Harry Clifton, for Secular Eden: Paris Notebooks 1994–2004.Harry Clifton wins Poetry Now award Irish Times, 5 April 2008.Irish Times Poetry Now shortlist announced Irish Times, 22 January 2011.Poetry needs to be protected from agendas – Clifton Irish Times, 1 July 2010.New chair is a poet in his prime Irish Times, 1 July 2010.
Shortlist: Harry Clifton, Secular Eden: Paris Notebooks 1994–2004. Eamon Grennan, Out of Breath. Dave Lordan, The Boy in the Ring. Dennis O'Driscoll, Reality Check. Matthew Sweeney, Black Moon.DLR Poetry Now 08 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.'The Irish Times' Poetry Now shortlist Irish Times, 1 March 2008.
Judges: Philip Coleman, Sasha Dugdale, and William Wall.Irish Times Poetry Now Award 2008 Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.
2007
Winner: Seamus Heaney, for District and Circle.Heaney work a unanimous choice Irish Times, 31 March 2007.
Shortlist: Seamus Heaney, District and Circle. Medbh McGuckian, The Currach Requires No Harbours. Paul Muldoon, Horse Latitudes. Caitriona O'Reilly, The Sea Cabinet. David Wheatley, Mocker.Poetry Now 2007 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Retrieved: 28 March 2011.
Judges: Eileen Battersby, Niall MacMonagle, and Maurice Riordan.Irish Times Poetry Now shortlist Irish Times, 2 February 2007.
2006
Winner: Derek Mahon, for Harbour Lights.Collection cited for 'wonderful flexibility and tonal command' Irish Times, 24 March 2006.
Shortlist: John F. Deane, The Instruments of Art. Nick Laird, To a Fault. Derek Mahon, Harbour Lights. Sinéad Morrissey, The State of the Prisons. Conor O'Callaghan, Fiction.Shortlist for 'Irish Times' Poetry Now 2006 prize Irish Times, 28 January 2006.
Judges: Patrick Crotty, Gerard Fanning, and Fiona Sampson.
2005
Winner: Dorothy Molloy, for Hare Soup, awarded posthumously (she died in January 2004) for her début collection.Late poet's work wins award Irish Times, 1 April 2005.Songs of a spirit's resilience Irish Times, 11 March 2006.
Shortlist: Paul Durcan, The Art of Life. Alan Gillis, Somebody Somewhere. Medbh McGuckian, The Book of the Angel. Dorothy Molloy, Hare Soup. Peter Sirr, Nonetheless.New voices on poetry shortlist Irish Times, 29 January 2005. Judges: Simon Armitage, Selina Guinness, and Colm Tóibín.New poetry prize launched, Bookseller, Tom Holman, 12 October 2004. "New voices on poetry shortlist", The Irish Times, 29 January 2005. Via The Irish Times .
References
External links Poetry Now website (archived 2014) Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival website (archived 2023)