The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry

The shortlist will be announced in March 2010

What was the best new poetry of 2009? Join the discussion on our Facebook page 

Ted Hughes - picture credit Caroline ForbesTed Hughes


Carol Ann Duffy, the new Poet LaureateCarol Ann Duffy
 


"I'm delighted, with the assistance of Buckingham Palace and the Poetry Society, to be founding this new award for poetry. With the permission of Carol Hughes, the award is named in honour of Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate, and one of the greatest twentieth century poets for both children and adults.”
Carol Ann Duffy  

The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry seeks to recognise excellence in poetry, highlighting outstanding contributions made by poets to our cultural life.

Members of the Poetry Society or the Poetry Book Society are invited to nominate a living UK poet, working in any form, who has made the most exciting contribution to poetry in the past 12 months.

The £5,000 prize has been donated by Carol Ann Duffy, funded from the annual honorarium which the Poet Laureate traditionally receives from H M the Queen. 

Judges: Imtiaz Dharker, Tim Supple and Jo Shapcott
Closing date for nominations: extended until 22 January 2010

The judges' shortlist will be published on the Poetry Society and Poetry Book Society websites in March 2010. The winner will be announced at the National Poetry Competition Awards on 30 March 2010.

Download Nomination Form and email to tedhughesaward (AT) poetrysociety.org.uk or post to Helen Taylor, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX.
 



Eligibility & Rules

  • Nominated work should have received its first publication or public presentation between 1 January and 31 December 2009.
  • Eligible works include, but are not limited to, poetry collections (for adults or children), individual published poems, radio poems, verse translations, verse dramas, verse novels, libretti, film poems, and public poetry pieces.
  • For their work to be eligible, a nominated poet must be resident in the UK or have UK nationality.
  • Self-published work is not eligible.
  • No one can nominate themselves.
  • No individual may make more than one nomination per year.
  • Nominators must be Poetry Society or Poetry Book Society members, and include their membership number with their nomination.
  • Note: Nominations are not votes, ie nominations help bring work to the judges’ attention, and play a vital role in helping the judges gauge the impact the work has had, but the judges’ final decision will not necessarily mirror the number of nominations a particular work received.
  • The judges' decision shall be final.

How to nominate

  • Name the one poet you consider to have made the most exciting contribution to poetry in the previous 12 months.  
  • The nominator should write a supporting statement of up to 75 words, describing the work for which the nomination has been made, and explaining why it is a significant and exciting contribution to poetry.
  • In cases relating to non-printed forms, some appropriate documentary evidence must exist for the judges to be able to assess - eg script, cd, dvd, podcast or photograph.
  • Nominators’ names will remain anonymous.
  • Download Nomination Form and email to tedhughesaward (AT) poetrysociety.org.uk or post to Helen Taylor, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX.

If you require further details please contact Helen Taylor: tedhughesaward (AT) poetrysociety.org.uk 

Join the Poetry Society

Further information about the Award
 



New Work in Poetry

Not all new poetry can be found in books. It's on the stage, on the radio, on film and TV, in art galleries, and around us in the built environment.

2004 Gwyneth Lewis: Wales Millenium Centre

 Gwyneth Lewis' inscription at the Wales Millennium Centre - Kiran RidelyGwyneth Lewis wrote the monumental inscription for Cardiff’s Millenium Centre. Each letter is six-foot tall and formed of stained glass, set in glass-reinforced gypsum. The words reflect the architecture, purpose and setting of the building.

There are inscriptions in Welsh and English:
‘In these Stones Horizons Sing’ and ‘Creu Gw ir fel Gwydr o Ffwrnais Awen’ (translation: 'Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace').

 

 

1999 Gillian Clarke and Menna Elfyn: Tonypandy Column

Tonypandy Column - lines by Gillian ClarkeMenna Elfyn and Gillian Clarke wrote lines for the column in Tonypandy, Wales which was commissioned by Artworks Wales and made by sculptor Howard Bowcott.

The words are inscribed on a band of black slate which is the thickness of the 'two foot eight' seam in which 31 men were killed at the Cambrian Mine in 1965 - the last major coal mine explosion in Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1998 Ted Hughes: Phèdre

Phedre starring Helen Mirren - Photo credit: Charlotte MacMillanPhèdre, Ted Hughes’s new verse translation of Racine’s play was premiered at the National Theatre just weeks before the Poet Laureate’s death in 1998. The text is published by Faber & Faber. The play was restaged in 2009, starring Helen Mirren in the title role.