Helen Mort's First Collection

I was very pleased to see the news, officially out this month, that Helen will have her first collection published by Chatto and Windus.

Assistant editor Parisa Ebrahimi said:

"Helen Mort is one of the most promising poets of her generation. Hers is a wonderfully distinct and assured voice, and the poems are taut and punchy, yet capable of moments of astonishing tenderness, as well as being superbly musical and accessible. We're thrilled to be welcoming such a gifted young poet to the Chatto list."

Titled "Division Street", the book is scheduled for early 2013 (yes, 2013, such is the speed at which the mills of big publishers grind... but the collection will certainly be fine... and hopefully not small)

So it will be a bit of a wait, but well worth it.

Next month Helen is at the Geological Society in Piccadilly for their Poetry and Geology celebration on the 10th of October. I'm going, so we'll get a chance to catch up then.

Forward Prize Shortlist

First news for a while - and great news too:

Judy Brown's new collection "Loudness" has been shortlisted for the Forward prize for a first collection, so congratulations and best of luck to Judy for the prize.

The collection is published by Seren, and should be available soon from their online shop.

The Forward Prize for Best First Collection shortlist:

Rachael Boast Sidereal
Judy Brown Loudness
Nancy Gaffield Tokaido Road
Ahren Warner Confer
John Whale Waterloo Teeth
Nerys Williams Sound Archive

The Forward Prize Best Collection shortlist:

John Burnside Black Cat Bone
David Harsent Night
Geoffrey Hill Clavics
Michael Longley A Hundred Doors
D Nurkse Voices Over Water
Sean O’Brien November

The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in memory of Michael Donaghy shortlist:

R. F. Langley To a Nightingale
Alan Jenkins Southern Rail (The Four Students)
Sharon Olds Song the Breasts Sing to the Late-in-Life Boyfriend
Jo Shapcott Bees

Picador Prize Winner

I went to the Picador Prize award evening. It was a bit tense in the lead up to the announcement of the winner, the poets having to do a reading while trying to maintain their composure. However, they all managed it. The prize went to Richard Meier, despite his never having been on Cerca de Ronda...

It was a good night (free wine) and I enjoyed the evening even though somewhat tempered by the fact that Helen Mort didn't win. She took it well though. And in any case, everyone I spoke to seemed in agreement that Helen's poetry future is assured. So, we should see her first collection before too long.

Don Paterson and John Stammers were two of the judges and, as it's been a while since I've seen them, it was good to catch up and hear how they're doing.

I also saw Jacqueline Saphra, who has a collection coming out soon. So I shall look out for that.