Bohdan Piasecki wins best performed poem in new Forward prize category
Piasecki’s ‘electric’ performance of Almost Certainly wins new award that recognises spoken word artists, while Malika Booker, Jason Allen-Paisant and Momtaza Mehri also scoop up prizes
July 2023
The Guardian view on spoken word poets: powerful voices that are needed today
Editorial: Traditionally looked down on by the poetry establishment, those specialising in performance deserve their new chance to shine
June 2023
Forward prizes for poetry add new award for performed poems
The addition marks the first time spoken-word artists have been recognised by the literary prize, a move described as ‘much-needed’ and ‘momentous’
November 2022
Kim Moore wins Forward poetry prize for ‘phenomenal’ poems about everyday sexism
All the Men I Never Married took the £10,000 award for best collection, while Stephanie Sy-Quia and Nick Laird were also winners in other categories
May 2022
‘The pendulum has swung’: Why we female Trinidadian writers are having our moment
Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean island
October 2021
Luke Kennard wins Forward poetry prize for ‘anarchic’ response to Shakespeare
Notes on the Sonnets took the £10,000 award for best collection, while Caleb Femi and Nicole Sealey came out on top in the other categories
June 2021
Forward poetry prizes shortlist former young people’s laureate Caleb Femi
Poor is in line for the Felix Dennis first collection award, while the contenders for best collection are praised for their ‘limitless’ ambition
October 2020
Forward poetry prize goes to ‘audacious, erotically charged’ The Air Year
Caroline Bird, whose book was inspired by the first year of a relationship, takes £10,000 honour for best collection alongside awards for Will Harris and Malika Booker
August 2020
Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz review – intimate, electric and defiant
The Mojave and Latinx poet, up for this year’s Forward prize, is on breathtaking form in this intellectually rigorous collection exploring love and identity
July 2020
Natalie Diaz: 'It is an important and dangerous time for language'
Four new collections up for the Forward poetry prizes – review roundup
June 2020
Police violence, heritage and love: Forward poetry prizes reveal shortlists 'made to last'
Native American poet Natalie Diaz among contenders for best collection award with Postcolonial Love Poem, alongside Pascale Petit and Caroline Bird
March 2020
Bard labour: boost workplace productivity 'by reading a poem'
Poetry world thrilled at news the New York Times’ morning meeting begins with Wordsworth or Simic
October 2019
The Guardian view on the healthy state of poetry: a reprimand to Trump and Johnson
Forward prize winner Fiona Benson: ‘It’s still taboo to talk about rape and women’s bodies’
The Guardian Books podcast
The history of the book, from Gilgamesh to now – books podcast
Fiona Benson wins Forward prize with Greek myth poems for #MeToo age
September 2019
Poem of the month
Poem of the month: No one uses doilies anymore
Each month the Guardian’s Review section selects a poet or poem to highlight
May 2019
Hillsborough survivors' words shortlisted for Forward poetry prize
Truth Street by David Cain, which combines eyewitness accounts of the 1989 disaster, is nominated for best debut in year when ‘poetry has come down from its high shelf’
February 2019
Generation next: the rise – and rise – of the new poets
With soaring sales and a younger, broader audience, poetry is on a high. What is behind the boom? Plus the fresh voices to read now
