| A critically acclaimed debut poetry collection (very favourably reviewed in The Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement) by University of Chichester English Department senior lecturer Stephanie Norgate is in the running for two major national awards.
Stephanie’s ‘Hidden River’ (Bloodaxe, 2008) has been shortlisted for both the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and the £5,000 Forward Prize for Best First Collection.
Stephanie, who co-ordinates the University’s successful MA programme in Creative Writing, said that she was delighted with the nominations.
She says, “I admire the work of the other poets who have been shortlisted. It’s great to be in such good company. And also to have poems from the collection republished in The Forward Book of Poetry 2009. The editors chose ‘Birth’ and ‘The Phone Tower Wood’, two poems which are deeply rooted in our local Hampshire and West Sussex landscape.”
William Sieghart, founder of the Forward Awards and chairman of the Forward Arts Foundation, said it was an exciting year for stars of the future as well as poets who deserved more exposure. He added: “It’s thrilling to see a huge presence of specialist presses who are offering a platform for poets with exceptional futures.”
In the Forward Award shortlist, Stephanie’s ‘Hidden River’ joins collections by fellow nominees, Simon Barraclough for ‘Los Alamos Mon Amour’, Andrew Forster for ‘Fear of Thunder’, Frances Leviston for ‘Public Dream’, Allison McVety for ‘The Night Trotsky Came to Stay’, and Kathryn Simmonds for ‘Sunday at the Skin Launderette’.
Poems published by specialist presses are well represented in the Forward poetry prize list, on which women outnumber men for the first time since 1999.
Judges for the Forward Best Collection Prize include the prolific Sujata Bhatt, whose poem ‘Search for my Tongue’ will be familiar to many English students.
The winners of the Forward prizes will be announced on October 8. The winner of the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize will be announced in November. |
