Press Release: Prizes and Awards
Picador Announces New Poetry Prize
Posted at 7:25AM Wednesday 26 May 2010
The Picador Poetry Prize will recognize and publish the best new, previously unpublished poetry in the UK. It will be awarded for a representative selection of a poet's work, rather than a single poem. Since it began in 1997, Picador Poetry has established itself as one of the leading poetry imprints in the UK, and the roll-call of Picador authors includes many of the best-known names in British and American verse. The Picador Poetry Prize aims to encourage unpublished poets, unearth new talent, and bring exciting new writing to a wider audience. The winning poet will be offered a small-but-perfectly-formed publisher's advance, and will have their first collection edited by Don Paterson, Picador's Poetry Editor. Their book will then be published on the award-winning Picador Poetry list, alongside some of the finest contemporary poets in the English language. Judging Panel The judging panel will be chaired by Don Paterson and will include poets Jackie Kay and John Stammers, and journalist Sarah Crown. Don Paterson Don Paterson was born in Dundee in 1963. He is the author of several volumes of poetry, including Landing Light (2003) and Rain (2009); his poetry has won a number of awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Award, Whitbread Poetry Prize and the Forward Prize, and the T. S. Eliot Prize on two occasions. He received the OBE in 2008 and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2010. He teaches poetry at the University of St Andrews, and has been Poetry Editor at Picador since 1997. Jackie Kay Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh. She is a poet, playwright, novelist and writer of short stories and has enjoyed great acclaim for her work for both adults and children. Her novel Trumpet won the Guardian Fiction Prize, and she has published two collections of stories with Picador, Why Don't You Stop Talking and Wish I Was Here. She teaches at Newcastle University, and lives in Manchester. Her memoir, Red Dust Road, will be published by Picador in June 2010. John Stammers John Stammers' latest collection is Interior Night, published by Picador. He read philosophy at King's College London and is an Associate of King's College. His first collection, Panoramic Lounge-bar, was awarded the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2001 and shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award 2001. His second collection, Stolen Love Behaviour, was a Poetry Book Society Choice. He was Judith E. Wilson Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He is a creative writing tutor and freelance writer. He lives in Hampstead, London, with his wife and their two sons. Sarah Crown Sarah Crown is the Guardian's online literary editor. She reviews poetry regularly for the Guardian Review and Poetry Review, and is a trustee of Poetry London. She is a former judge of the Forward Prizes for Poetry, and the creator of the Guardian's immensely popular poetry workshop. Timescale Submissions open: April Submissions close: September Shortlist of between eight and ten poets announced: October Winner announced: December Further press information please contact Emma Bravo, Head of Picador Publicity at 020 7014 6184 or via email: e.bravo@macmillan.co.uk . Details of how to enter the prize are available from picador.com http://www.picador.com/Poetry/prize/picadorpoetryprize.aspx
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