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. In 2023, a new category for outstanding performance of a poem was added to the list of awards.
Awards The Forward Prizes for Poetry consist of four 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 (written) in memory of Michael Donaghy, £1,000 The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (performed), £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.Forward Arts Foundation. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
Previous winners
Best Collection +Forward Prizes for Best Poetry CollectionYearAuthorTitlePublisherRef.1992 Faber and Faber1993 Mean TimeAnvil Press Poetry1994 HarmChatto & Windus1995 Ghost TrainOxford University Press1996 Stones and FiresChatto & Windus1997 Oxford University Press1998 Birthday LettersFaber and Faber1999 My Life AsleepOxford University Press2000 ConjurePicador2001 DownriverPicador2002 Max is MissingPicador2003 Breaking NewsGallery Press2004 Picador2005 LegionFaber and Faber2006 SwitheringPicador2007 Picador2008 Faber and Faber2009 RainFaber and Faber2010 Human ChainFaber and Faber2011 Black Cat BoneJonathan Cape2012 PLACECarcanet Press2013 DrysalterCape Poetry2014 Carcanet Press2015 Citizen: An American LyricPenguin Books2016 Measures of ExpatriationCarcanet Press2017 On BalanceCarcanet Press2018 Don't Call Us DeadChatto & Windus2019 Vertigo and GhostCape Poetry2020 Carcanet Press2021 Notes on the SonnetsPenned in the Margins2022 All the Men I Never MarriedSeren Books2023Jason Allen-PaisantSelf-Portrait as OthelloCarcanet Press2024Victoria ChangWith My Back to the WorldCorsair 2025Vidyan RavinthiranAvidyāBloodaxe Books Ravinthiran and Solie were the prize's first joint winnersKaren SolieWellwaterPicador
Best First Collection +Forward Prizes for Best First Poetry CollectionYearAuthorTitlePublisherRef.1992 KidFaber and Faber1993 Nil NilFaber and Faber1994 Progeny of AirPeepal Tree Press1995 Breathe Now, BreatheEnitharmon Press1996 The Thing in the Gap Stone StileFaber and Faber1997Picador1998 Picador1999 Bloodaxe Books2000 InThe Rialto2001 Picador2002 Touching the BonesThe Gallery Press2003 Fire StationsAnvil Press Poetry2004 These DaysJonathan Cape2005 IntimatesJonathan Cape2006 Countries of the BodyAark Arts2007 Look We Have Coming to Dover!Faber and Faber2008 Sunday at the Skin LaunderetteSeren Books2009 Faber and Faber2010 BergSeren Books2011 SiderealPicador2012 81 Austerities2013 Dear BoyFaber and Faber2014 Black CountryChatto & Windus2015 Small HandsLiverpool University Press2016 WifePeepal Tree Press2017 Night Sky with Exit WoundsJonathan Cape2018 Shrines of Upper AustriaCarcanet Press2019 If All the World and Love Were YoungPenguin Books2020 RENDANGGranta 2021 PoorPenguin Poetry2022 AmnionGranta 2023Momtaza MehriBad Diaspora PoemsJonathan Cape2024Marjorie LotfiThe Wrong Person to AskBloodaxe2025Isabelle BaafiChaotic GoodFaber and Faber
Best Single Poem (written) +Forward Prizes for Best Single Poem (written)YearAuthorTitlePublicationRef.1992 "Black Bottom"1993 "Judith"1994 "Autumn"1995 "In Honour of Love"1996 "The Graduates"1997 1998 "Envying Owen Beattie"1999 "Twenty-five Laments for Iraq"2000 "The Death of Descartes"2001 "The Lammas Hireling"2002 "She is in the Past, She has this Grace" The Shop2003 "The Fox in the National Museum of Wales" Poetry London2004 "Look We Have Coming to Dover!" Poetry Review2005 "Liverpool Disappears for a Billionth of a Second" The North2006 "Fantasia on a Theme of James Wright" Poetry Review2007 "Dunt" Poetry London2008 "Love Poem for Natalie 'Tusja' Beridze" Poetry Review2009 "At Roane Head"2010 2011 "To a Nightingale" London Review of Books2012 2013 "The Metric System" The Warwick Review2014 "In a Restaurant" The Bridport Prize2015 "The Mighty Hudson" TLS2016 "Joy" PN Review2017 "The Plenty of Nothing" PN Review2018 Granta2019 "Forty Names" PN Review2020 Magma2021 "Pages 22–29" an excerpt from The Ferguson Report: An Erasure Poetry London2022 "Up Late" Granta2023Malika Booker"Libation"Poetry Review2024Cindy Juyoung Ok"Ward of One"Poetry London2025Abeer Ameer"At Least"MODRON Magazine
Best Single Poem (performed) +Forward Prizes for Best Single Poem (performed)YearAuthorTitleRef.2023Bohdan Piasecki'Almost Certainly'2024Leyla Josephine'Dear John Berger'2025Griot Gabriel'Where I'm From'
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
External links