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 prizes do this by identifying and honouring talent: collections published in the UK and Ireland over the course of the previous year are eligible, as are single poems nominated by journal editors or prize organisers. Each year, works shortlisted for the prizes – plus those highly commended by the judges – are collected in the Forward Book of Poetry.
| Forward Prizes for Poetry | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Collection (£10,000); Best First Collection (£5,000); Best Single Poem (£1,000) |
| Sponsored by | Forward Worldwide, Arts Council England, The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The estate of Felix Dennis |
| Date | 1992 |
| Location | United Kingdom |
The awards have been sponsored since their inception by the content marketing agency Bookmark, formerly Forward Worldwide. The best first collection prize is sponsored by the estate of Felix Dennis.
The Forward Prizes for Poetry celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2021. For the 2023 prizes, a new category for outstanding performance of a poem was added to the list of awards.