Poetry School

Poetry School is a national arts organisation, registered charity and adult education centre providing creative writing tuition, with teaching centres throughout England as well as online courses and downloadable activities. It was founded in 1997 by poets Mimi Khalvati, Jane Duran and Pascale Petit. Poetry School offers an accredited Master's degree in Writing Poetry, delivered in both London and Newcastle, in collaboration with Newcastle University.^[1] Online courses are delivered via CAMPUS, a social network dedicated to poetry.

In 2018 the Poetry School moved to new premises at Dock Offices, Canada Water, London, from their previous offices on Lambeth Walk.

The Poetry School's annual Books of the Year list is released in December, and celebrates noteworthy books and pamphlets of poetry published during the year.^[2][3]

Poetry School works with a number of partner organisations to deliver a range of projects, including the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry, the Primers mentorship scheme, and, from 2018, a new poetry award and mentorship programme, The Women Poets' Prize, in memory of The Literary Consultancy co-founder Rebecca Swift.^[4] The Women Poets' Prize offers three female-identifying poets a programme of support and creative professional development opportunities in collaboration with seven partner organisations, including, in addition to Poetry School, Faber and Faber, Bath Spa University, The Literary Consultancy, RADA, City Lit and Verve Festival.

Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry

Poetry School runs the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry (formerly the Resurgence Prize), a major international award for poems embracing ecological themes, with a first prize of £5,000.^[5]

The Resurgence Prize was founded in 2014 by poet Andrew Motion and actress and activist Joanna Lumley.^[6] The Ginkgo Prize was established in 2018 with funding from the Edward Goldsmith Foundation to commemorate the poet Teddy Goldsmith on the 25th anniversary of the publication of his book The Way.^[7][8]

Winners of the Resurgence Prize (to 2017)

• 2015 – Luisa Igloria, "Auguries"^[9]
• 2016 – Rob Miles, "Captivity"^[10]
• 2017 – Seán Hewitt, "Ilex"^[11]

Winners of the Ginkgo Prize (from 2018)

• 2018^[12]

1st: Jemma Borg, "Unripe"

2nd: Teresa Dzieglewicz, "If you’re married, why do you call her Teresa?"

3rd: Linda France, "In the Physic Garden"

• 2019^[13]

1st: Sue Riley, !A Polar Bear in Norilsk!

2nd: Anne McDonnell, "Once There Were Fish"

3rd Rosamund Taylor, "Lammergeier"

Environmental Defenders Prize: Emma Must, "Toll"

• 2020^[14]

1st: Jane Lovell, "Ming"

2nd: Daniel Fraser, "Field Notes"

3rd: Emily Groves, "What Survives of Us"

AONB Best Poem of Landscape Prize: Liz Byrne, "Anglezarke Moor"

• 2021^[15]

1st: Teresa Dzieglewicz,"Earth I don't know how to love you"

2nd: Hilary Menos, "3.5 % Rule"

3rd Liz Byrne, "An Owl the Size of my Smallest Fingernail"

AONB Best Poem of Landscape: Ross Styants, "Avon in Summer Rain"

Laurel Prize

In November 2019 poet laureate Simon Armitage announced that he would donate his salary as poet laureate to create a new prize for a collection of poems "with nature and the environment at their heart". The prize is to be run by the Poetry School. The first award was to be announced on 23 May 2020 at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the judges being Armitage, Robert Macfarlane, and Moniza Alvi. Armitage has said that the prize should "be part of the discourse and awareness about our current environmental predicament".^[16][17]

Laurel Prize winners 2020

The shortlisted poems were discussed on BBC Radio 3's The Verb in September 2020,^[18] and the winners were announced on National Poetry Day.^[19][20]

• 1st: Pascale Petit, Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe)
• 2nd: Karen McCarthy Woolf, Seasonal Disturbances (Carcanet)
• 3rd: Colin Simms, Hen Harrier (Shearsman)
• Best First Collection: Matt Howard, Gall (Rialto)

Laurel Prize winners 2021^[21]

• 1st: Seán Hewitt, Tongues of Fire (Jonathan Cape)
• 2nd: Ash Davida Jane, How to Live with Mammals (Victoria University Press)
• 3rd: Sean Borodale, Inmates (Jonathan Cape)
• Best First Collection: Will Burns, Country Music (Offord Road Books)

Laurel Prize winners 2022^[22]

• 1st: Linda France
• 2nd: Steve Ely
• 3rd: Jemma Borg
• Best First Collection: Cynthia Miller
• Best International First Collection: Rebecca Hawkes

Primers

Primers is an annual mentoring and publication scheme organised by Poetry School and Nine Arches Press. It provides a unique opportunity for talented poets to find publication and receive a programme of supportive feedback, mentoring and promotion.^[23][24]

Previous winners

• 2015 – Geraldine Clarkson, Lucy Ingrams, Katie Griffiths, Maureen Cullen
• 2016 – Cynthia Miller, Ben Bransfield, Marvin Thompson
• 2017 – Romalyn Ante, Aviva Dautch, Sarala Estruch
• 2018 – Lewis Buxton, Victoria Richards, Amelia Louli

References

1. "Writing Poetry MA - Postgraduate - Newcastle University". www.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
2. Onwuemezi, Natasha (22 December 2016). "Poetry School names its Books of the Year". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
3. Robinson, Rebecca (21 December 2016). "The Poetry Business Sweep the Board in The Poetry School's Books of the Year". Inpress Books. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
4. Onwuemezi, Natasha (21 May 2018). "Foundation and poetry award launches in memory of Rebecca Swift". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
5. Firth, Niall (23 August 2018). "Endangered bees and climate nightmares find a new voice in poetry". New Scientist. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
6. "Prize Founders". Resurgence Poetry Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
7. "Ginkgo Prize 2019 Open for Entries!". Poetry School. May 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
8. "Patrons". Ginkgo Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
9. "2015 Winner". Resurgence Poetry Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
10. "2016 Awards". Resurgence Poetry Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
11. "2017 Awards". Resurgence Poetry Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
12. "Poems: 2018 winners". Ginkgo Prize. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
13. "Contents". Ginkgo Prize Ecopoetry Anthology 2019 (PDF). Poetry School. 2019. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
14. "Contents". Ginkgo Prize Ecopoetry Anthology 2020 (PDF). Poetry School. 2021. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
15. "Contents". Ginkgo Prize Ecopoetry Anthology 2021 (PDF). Poetry School. 2022. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
16. Flood, Alison (21 November 2019). "Simon Armitage: 'Nature has come back to the centre of poetry'". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
17. Singh, Anita (21 November 2019). "Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to fund new 'eco-poetry' prize". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
18. "Nature Poetry: Experiments in Living". The Verb. BBC Radio 3. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
19. "The Laurel Prize 2020 – Winners!". Simon Armitage. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
20. "2020 Winners". Laurel Prize for Poetry in Association with Poetry School. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
21. "2021 Winners". Laurel Prize for Poetry in Association with Poetry School. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
22. "2022 Winners". Laurel Prize for Poetry in Association with Poetry School. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
23. "An Exciting Collaboration Between Nine Arches Press and The Poetry School Will Be Celebrated in Trowbridge". Literature Works SW - Nurturing literature development activity in South West England. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
24. "Nine Arches Press celebrates ten years of publishing in the Midlands". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Arts Council England. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.

External links

• Poetry School website
• Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry website
• MA in Writing Poetry, Newcastle University

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