The Poetry Society

The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 

Judges Maura Dooley, Ian Duhig and Cornelia Parker have presented the 2012 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry to Kate Tempest for Brand New Ancients!

Making the announcements, the judges commented that:

'Our brief was to find the most exciting contribution to poetry this year.  We judges were unanimous in feeling that Kate Tempest fulfilled this with knobs on! Lorca wrote that “a play is a poem standing up” Kate’s poem stands up in every way. Kate Tempest has created here an ambitious, unforgettable mythology and made us look at the world afresh.  Kate’s work is full of promise for the future of poetry'

The £5,000 prize is gifted by Carol Ann Duffy, funded from the annual honorarium the Poet Laureate traditionally receives from HM The Queen. Kate Tempest was presented with her prize by Carol Ann Duffy at an award ceremony at the Savile Club, London, on Wednesday 27 March 2013, alongside the winner of the National Poetry Competition 2012. Now in its fourth year, the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry is awarded annually to recognise excellence and innovation in poetry. It is one of the only awards to acknowledge the wide range of work being produced by poets – not just in books, but beyond. Read more about Kate Tempest and Brand New Ancients here.

The judges considered work in a wide variety of forms for the award – from radio-plays and installations to books and sound works – including a number of interdisciplinary collaborations. Seven poets were then shortlisted alongside Kate Tempest: Colette Bryce, Roy Fisher, Ruth Padel, Mario Petrucci, Denise Riley and Tamar Yoseloff. For more information on the Shortlist click here.