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 Mimi Khalvati (born 28 April 1944) is an Iranian-born British poet. She is the recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2023, awarded for "her outstanding talent and ability to draw on diverse cultural traditions – Iranian, English a ...

, Jane Duran and Pascale Petit. Poetry School offers an accredited

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Writing Poetry, delivered in both London and Newcastle, in collaboration with

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. Online courses are delivered via CAMPUS, a social network dedicated to poetry. 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. 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 The Literary Consultancy (TLC) is a UK-based editorial consultancy service that was founded in 1996, becoming the first service of its kind to offer "professional, in-depth editorial advice and assessment to anyone writing in the English languag ...

co-founder Rebecca Swift. 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 Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

City Lit City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities an ...

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. The Resurgence Prize was founded in 2014 by poet

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Peter Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and a ...

and actress and activist

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

. The Ginkgo Prize was established in 2018 with funding from the Edward Goldsmith Foundation to commemorate the poet

Teddy Goldsmith Edward René David Goldsmith (8 November 1928 – 21 August 2009), widely known as Teddy Goldsmith, was an Anglo-French environmentalist, writer and philosopher. He was a member of the prominent Goldsmith family, the eldest son of Major ...

on the 25th anniversary of the publication of his book ''The Way''.

Winners of the Resurgence Prize (to 2017)

* 2015 – Luisa Igloria, "Auguries" * 2016 – Rob Miles, "Captivity" * 2017 –

Seán Hewitt Seán Hewitt FRSL (born 1990) is a poet, lecturer and literary critic. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Biography Seán Hewitt was born in Warrington, UK, to an Irish mother and English father. He studied E ...

, "Ilex"

Winners of the Ginkgo Prize (from 2018)

*2018 ::1st: Jemma Borg, "Unripe" ::2nd: Teresa Dzieglewicz, "If you’re married, why do you call her Teresa?" ::3rd:

Linda France Linda France is a British poet, writer and editor. She has published eight full-length poetry collections, a number of pamphlets, and was editor of the influential anthology, ''Sixty Women Poets''. France is the author of ''The Toast of the Kit- ...

, "In the Physic Garden" *2019 ::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 ::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 ::1st: Teresa Dzieglewicz,"Earth I don't know how to love you" ::2nd:

Hilary Menos Hillary Menos (born 1964 in Luton) is an English poet. She is a two-time winner of The Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition, for her pamphlets ''Extra Maths'' and ''Human Tissue'', and won the Forward Prize for Best First Col ...

, "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 Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

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 Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barb ...

, the judges being Armitage, Robert Macfarlane, and

Moniza Alvi Moniza Alvi FRSL (born 2 February 1954) is a British-Pakistani writer and poet. She has won several well-known prizes for her verse. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023. Life and education Moniza Alvi was bor ...

. Armitage has said that the prize should "be part of the discourse and awareness about our current environmental predicament".

Laurel Prize winners 2020

The shortlisted poems were discussed on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

's ''

The Verb BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The statio ...

'' in September 2020, and the winners were announced on

National Poetry Day National Poetry Day is a British campaign to promote poetry, including public performances. Annually, on the first Thursday of October, events, readings and performances take place across the UK. National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by Wil ...

. *1st: Pascale Petit, ''Mama Amazonica'' ( Bloodaxe) *2nd:

Karen McCarthy Woolf Karen McCarthy Woolf (born 1966) is a poet of English and Jamaican parentage. Early life and education Karen McCarthy Woolf was born in London to English and Jamaican parents. Her father emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957 as a part of th ...

, ''Seasonal Disturbances'' ( Carcanet) *3rd:

Colin Simms Colin Simms (born 1939) is a British biologist, curator and poet. Career Biologist and curator Simms was appointed Keeper of Biology at the Yorkshire Museum in 1964. He held this position until 1982. Poet Simms has produced several collections ...

, ''Hen Harrier'' ( Shearsman) *Best First Collection:

Matt Howard Matt Howard (born January 23, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League. Previously, he played college basketball with the Butler Bulldogs. He helped lead the ...

, ''Gall'' (

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Ria ...

)

Laurel Prize winners 2021

Source: * 1st:

, ''Tongues of Fire'' (

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

) * 2nd: Ash Davida Jane, ''How to Live with Mammals'' (

Victoria University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History V ...

) * 3rd: Sean Borodale, ''Inmates'' (

) * Best First Collection: Will Burns, ''Country Music'' (Offord Road Books)

Laurel Prize winners 2022

Source: * 1st:

* 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.

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

External links

Poetry School website

Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry website

MA in Writing Poetry, Newcastle University
{{coords, 51.4967, -0.0510, display=title British poetry British writers' organisations Poetry organizations