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MEDIA RELEASE


MEDIA RELEASE

30 APRIL 2015

 EYEWEAR PUBLISHING ANNOUNCE 12-STRONG SHORTLIST FOR THE MELITA HUME POETRY PRIZE 2015

London indie press Eyewear Publishing is delighted to announce its shortlist of 12 finalists for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize.  The list of seven women and five men includes poets from all corners of Ireland and the UK, writing in a variety of styles, from the performance-based to the experimental.

 Judged in 2015 by award-winning Faber poet Toby Martinez de las Rivas (Terror, 2014), this prestigious prize continues to break new ground in its search for the best first full-length collection by a UK or Irish writer aged 35 or below.

 
The Melita Hume 2015 winner will receive a cash prize of £1,500 and a publishing deal with Eyewear, the press renowned for its quirky design-led covers and international roster of talent.  Now in its fourth year, the prize has been awarded previously to A. K. Blakemore (2014), Marion McCready (2013) and the Granta-listed Caleb Klaces (2012).

 
Eyewear comments: “We’ve been delighted by the calibre of the entries we’ve received this year, and encouraged by these poets’ playful experimentation with forms and modes from the sonnet to the digital and avant-garde.  Toby’s going to have his work cut out for him, but I can’t think of a more enjoyable task.”

 The 12 poets shortlisted are:

 

Maria Apichella

Leanne Bridgewater

Jen Calleja

Tony Chan

Michael Conley

Anna Mace

Jessica Mayhew

Julie Morrissy

Ben Parker

Elizabeth Parker

Michael Naghten Shanks

David Spittle

The winner of the Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2015 will be announced in June, and presented with their prize at an Eyewear Publishing reception held afterwards at the London Review Bookshop.

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