Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlists

The shortlists for the Forward Prizes for Poetry were announced today. A handful of the contenders were lucky enough to make an impact on the literary pages…

The Forward Prize for Best Collection (worth £10,000)

Hide Now by Glyn Maxwell (Picador)

One Secret Thing Sharon Olds (Jonathan Cape)

Rain Don Paterson (Faber)

Better Than God Peter Porter (Picador)

A Scattering Christopher Reid (Areté Books
)

West End Final Hugo Williams (Faber)

The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection (worth £5,000)

The Missing Sian Hughes (Salt
)

The Striped World Emma Jones (Faber)

Moonrise Meirion Jordan (Seren)

Furniture Lorraine Mariner (Picador)

Natural Mechanical J O Morgan (CB Editions
)

Halflife Meghan O’Rourke (WW Norton)

In the running for Best Single Poem are Paul Farley for Moles; Michael Longley for Visiting Stanley Kunitz; Robin Robertson for At Roane Road; Elizabeth Speller for Finistere; George Szirtes for Song; and CK Williams for Either/Or.

The winners will be announced at Somerset House in London on Wednesday 7 October.