Holly Hopkins is a

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-based poet and editor. She has published a poetry pamphlet, ''Soon Every House Will Have One'' ( Smith/Doorstop, 2014), and a poetry collection, ''The English Summer'' (Penned in the Margins, 2022). The former was a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) is a British subscription-based book club dedicated to selecting, recommending and publicising new poetry books. Every quarter, it selects two Poetry Book Society Choices and four Poetry Book Society Recommendations. ...

Pamphlet Choice, and the latter won a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation.

Early life

Hopkins grew up in Berkshire and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and later moved to Manchester. She has a bachelor's degree from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, and in 2013, was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the Royal Holloway, University of London.

Work

Hopkins's verse was noticed at the turn of the century, and she was selected as a

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

Young Poet of the Year in 1999 & 2000. She later won the

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

in 2011, and went on to have her work included in Sidekick Press,

Seren Books Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, an independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously diffic ...

and

Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumbe ...

anthologies, and published in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

and The TLS. She has performed her work at a number of festivals, including the Ledbury and the Aldeburgh poetry festivals, and at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

. Hopkins won the 2013/14 Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition, judged by

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She wa ...

. Her pamphlet, titled ''Soon Every House Will Have One'', which was published in 2014, was praised in

Poetry London ''Poetry London'' is a literary periodical based in London. Published three times a year, it features poems, reviews, and other articles. Profile Adopting the title of an earlier bimonthly publication which ran from 1939 to 1951, ''Poetry London' ...

for a voice "so fresh it virtually sizzles". In the review, the poet

Clare Pollard Clare Eve Pollard FRSL (born 1978, England) is a British writer (poet, novelist and playwright), literary translator and (prize jury) critic. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2024. Early life and education Poll ...

also noted that Hopkins's was "an almost flawless pamphlet performance", calling it "a ferociously impressive debut." The

also declared it as a PBS Pamphlet Choice in 2014. In 2015, she was an assistant editor of The Rialto, a position she now holds at The Poetry Business, and also managed the

Forward Prizes for Poetry The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

. In 2016, she went on to win a Hawthornden Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural

Women Poets' Prize The Women Poets' Prize is a British award for women poets. Between 2018 and 2022, it was awarded biennially by the Rebecca Swift Foundation to three female poets. , the award is on hiatus due to funding difficulties. Establishment The award and f ...

, judged by Sarah Howe,

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 ...

, and

Fiona Sampson Fiona Ruth Sampson (born 1963) is a British poet, literary biographer, writer on ecology, editor, translator and scholar. She was appointed an MBE for services to literature in 2017. Early life Sampson was born in London, England, and was ra ...

, and organised by the

Rebecca Swift Rebecca Swift (10 January 1964 – 18 April 2017) was a British poet and essayist. She was co-founder in 1996 of The Literary Consultancy. Biography Rebecca Margaret Swift was born in Highbury, north London, the daughter of Clive Swift and Marga ...

Foundation, in 2018. Published in 2022, her debut collection ''The English Summer'' was shortlisted for the Forward and the Seamus Heaney first collection prizes in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Writing for the

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Review of the Arts, Orla Davey noted that Hopkins's manner of writing allows "a straightforward matter-of-factness to burn through her narrative". Similar to her pamphlet, ''The English Summer'' was the PBS Special Commendation for Summer 2022, and was named one of the best poetry books of 2022 in The Guardian. In 2023, Hopkins won the Third Prize at the Laurel Prize ceremony for the collection. The prize was judged by the poets Pascale Petit and Nick Laird, and the Journalist & Presenter

Reeta Chakrabarti Reeta Chakrabarti (born 12 December 1964) is a British journalist, newsreader and correspondent for BBC News. She is known for presenting ''BBC News at One'', ''BBC News at Six'', ''BBC News at Ten'' and ''BBC Weekend News'', and presenting regul ...

. Hopkins won a Northern Writers' Award in 2023 for a work-in-progress, which will form her second collection.

Awards and honors

In 2016, Hopkins received a Hawthornden Fellowship.

Books

*''Soon Every House Will Have One'' ( Smith/Doorstop, 2014) *''The English Summer'' (Penned in the Margins, 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Holly Living people 21st-century English poets Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the University of Warwick English women poets Writers from Berkshire