The shortlists for the Forward Prize for Poetry 2023 were made public on Friday, June 30, 2023.
The Forward Prizes for Poetry were founded by William Sieghart to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience in 1992. There are four prizes on offer: 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 (£1,000), and the new Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed (£1,000). Previous winners include Kei Miller, Danez Smith, and Claudia Rankine, and Malika Booker.
The 2023 edition of the prize is being judged by Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo (collections categories Chair) alongside Kate Fox, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Andrés N. Ordórica and Jessica Traynor. The single poem categories panel is chaired by Joelle Taylor who is joined by Khadijah Ibrahiim, Caroline Bird, Chris Redmond and Sue Roberts.
The shortlists for the awards have been announced and these are the writers of African descent in the running;
Best Collection
- Self Portrait as Othello, Jason Allen-Paisant
The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection
- Cane, Corn & Gully, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
- Bad Diaspora Poems, Momtaza Mehri
- Cowboy, Kandace Siobhan Walker
Best Single Poem – Written
- Libation, Malika Booker
Best Single Poem – Performed
- Human. This Embodied Knowledge, Zena Edwards
- The City Kids See the Sea, Roger Robinson
Speaking on this year’s shortlists, Chair for the Best Collection and Best First Collection categories, Bernardine Evaristo, said: “It was such a pleasure to read so many wonderful poetry collections for this prize from established poets, and to discover new poets at the start of their publishing careers. I think it’s safe to say that poetry in the twenty-first century is flourishing like never before with such a broad range of poets writing from different backgrounds. As a jury we found ourselves drawn to poets who were moving poetry forwards in theme or form or both, who offered us emotional depth, imaginative fertility, re-readability and intellectual complexity, and, most importantly, who were writing fresh perspectives. The ten poets who made the cut, did so in a field of over 230 poets and while it was sometimes heartbreaking to say goodbye to collections we loved, we are incredibly excited to be presenting such an exceptional body of work.”
Responses by the poets;
“I’m so insanely honoured to be among these,” Jason Allen-Paisant
“Thank you to the judges for this shortlist decision, I feel deeply honoured & moved to be among such a commendable line-up… @Outspoken_Press 😌😌😌😌🫡💜💃🏾🌾🌽🌴,” Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
“Bit of a mad ting 😅 An true, unexpected honour,” Momtaza Mehri
“So honoured and speechless to have been shortlisted -I give thanks. Congrats to my fellow poets well,” Malika Booker.
“Feeling very blessed right now. Not in the UK to party about thus not sending congrats to fellow shortlisted!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 🙌🏾,” Zena Edwards
This year’s winners will be announced at a ceremony in Leeds Playhouse, as part of Leeds 23, on October 16 2023.
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