A brand new prize for Environmental Poetry – Michael Marks Awards

The 14^th annual Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets is open for entries for greatest pamphlet, writer and illustrator. The Awards are sometimes marked by innovation and this yr is not any completely different, introducing the Award’s first prize for Environmental Poet of the 12 months.

The decision for Environmental Poet of the 12 months closes on 1^st September, and focuses on the theme of the atmosphere and the place of the human inside it. Poets are inspired to consider the theme in a broad approach, and submissions may describe the influence of people on the atmosphere, or on the influence that local weather change is having on folks’s lives. Entry is by submission of a portfolio of poetry and full particulars and entry guidelines can be found at https://michaelmarksawards.org/epoty/

The successful portfolio will probably be revealed as a pamphlet, and the successful poet will invited to learn at a particular ‘Environmental Poet of the 12 months’ occasion at Wordsworth Grasmere, in addition to on the Michael Marks Awards in December. The poet can even obtain a prize of £1,000.

The judges for the brand new Award are poet Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, Dr Mark Avery (previously Director of Conservation on the Royal Society for the Safety of Birds) and Jane Caven, a member of the Poetry Readers group at Wordsworth Grasmere.

The decision for the prizes for Poet, Publish and Illustrator are additionally open, and shut 23^rd September. Full particulars for entry may be discovered on the Michael Marks Awards web site at: https://michaelmarksawards.org/awards-2022/

Earlier years have seen particular prizes in several classes. The 2021 Awards had been accompanied by an Worldwide Greek Bi-centennial Poetry Prize for each poet and illustrator, to mark the 200 yr anniversary of the creation of the fashionable Greek state. The successful entries had been revealed within the pamphlet, Ariadne, with poetry by Fiona Benson, illustrations by Judith Eyal and translations to Greek by Haris Psarras. The pamphlet may be purchased from Damaged Sleep Books.

In 2019 and 2020 the Awards included a prize for poetry in a Celtic language. The successful entries had been (for 2019) moroedd/dŵr by Morgan Owen, and (for 2020) Carthen Denau by Rhys Iorwerth.

The Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets are a partnership of the Michael Marks Charitable Belief, with the British Library, Wordsworth Gasmere, Harvard Middle for Hellenic Research and Instances Literary Complement.