GLASGOW poet Michael Pedersen, shortlisted for the 2023 Forward Prizes for Poetry, the most coveted and influential prizes for poetry in the UK and Ireland. Michael is shortlisted in the inaugural Best Single Poem – Performed category.
The most coveted and influential prizes for poetry in the UK and Ireland, awarded in four categories: 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 (£1,000), and the inaugural Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed (£1,000).
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.”
Over the last three decades the prizes have celebrated some of the most recognised names in poetry including Simon Armitage, Thom Gunn, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Carol Ann Duffy, Claudia Rankine, Jackie Kay and Caleb Femi. This year’s winners will be announced at a ceremony in Leeds Playhouse, as part of Leeds 23, on 16th October 2023.
Michael Pedersen is already a prize-winning Scottish poet and author. He’s published three acclaimed collections of poetry and his prose debut, Boy Friends, was a Sunday Times Critics Choice 2022. Pedersen also won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and the John Mather’s Trust Rising Star of Literature Award. Pedersen’s work has attracted praise from the likes of Stephen Fry, Kae Tempest, Irvine Welsh, Maggie Smith, Sara Pascoe, Jackie Kay and many more. Co-founder of the literary collective Neu! Reekie!, Pedersen will soon take up position as Writer in Residence at The University of Edinburgh.
