Skip to main content

First Annual Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology POETS ANNOUNCED!


A NEW BRITISH OR IRISH POET BETWEEN POEMS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 15 February 2016 


50 Rising Stars Win Spots in the First Annual Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology


Judged by Kelly Davio, Senior Poetry Editor, Eyewear Publishing LTD, and Todd Swift, Series Editor. 


Modeled on the famous United States competition, the first annual Best New British and Irish Poets competition was open to any poet of British or Irish citizenship and/or U.K. or Irish residency who has not yet published or will not publish a full-length collection prior to 1 June 2016. Poems submitted for consideration could have appeared in print before, or in a pamphlet, but not online. Poets about to have full collections out from Eyewear Publishing, including Ben Parker and Maria Apichella, were ineligible for inclusion.

A large number of poems came in from all corners of Great Britain and from across Ireland, from thrilling new voices and established older writers – all poets likely to soon publish full collections in print. These poets are, if you like, the “rising stars” of poetry in these isles. What was impressive was the age range and geographical range of these poets, as well as that of their styles – from lyrical to avant-garde and performance-oriented work. Traditional poems rub shoulders with prose poetry and innovative forms and styles.

In the light of his role in encouraging poets across the UK for decades, we wish to dedicate this year’s edition to RODDY LUMSDEN, one of the greatest poets of the age.

The final fifty poets selected for inclusion in the 2016 Best New British and Irish Poets are, in alphabetical order by first name: 
 
  1. ALAN DUNNETT
  2. ALEX BELL
  3. ALEX HOUEN
  4. ALI LEWIS
  5. AMY McCAULEY
  6. ANDREW FENTHAM
  7. ANNABEL BANKS
  8. BECKY CHERRIMAN
  9. BEN ASHWELL
  10. CATO PEDDER
  11. CLAIRE QUIGLEY
  12. CLARISSA AYKROYD
  13. COLIN DARDIS
  14. DAISY BEHAGG
  15. DAVID SPITTLE
  16. DEBRIS STEVENSON
  17. EDWARD DOEGAR
  18. ELIZABETH PARKER
  19. ERICA MCALPINE
  20. ERIN FORNOFF
  21. FRANCOISE HARVEY
  22. HOLLY CORFIELD-CARR
  23. IAN M DUDLEY
  24. ISABEL ROGERS
  25. JAMES NIXON
  26. JASON LEE
  27. JEN CALLEJA
  28. JESS MAYHEW
  29. KARL O’HANLON
  30. KATHERINE SHIRLEY
  31. LIZ QUIRKE
  32. LORNA COLLINS
  33. MARIA ISAKOVA-BENNETT
  34. MATT HOWARD
  35. MATTHEW PAUL
  36. MATTHEW STEWART
  37. MICHAEL NAGHTEN SHANKS
  38. NIALL BOURKE
  39. PIERRE RINGWALD
  40. RICHARD SCOTT
  41. RISHI DASTIDAR
  42. ROISIN KELLEY
  43. SAMANTHA WALTON
  44. SAMUEL TONGUE
  45. STEWART CARSWELL
  46. TESS JOLLY
  47. TIFFANY ANNE TONDUT
  48. VA SOLA SMITH
  49. VICTORIA KENNEFICK
  50. WES LEE
 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart?  A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional.  Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were.  For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ?  Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets.  But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ?  How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular.  John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se.  What do I mean by smart?
3 comments
Read more

"I have crossed oceans of time to find you..."

In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and  Silence of the Lambs .  I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".
1 comment
Read more

THE SWIFT REPORT 2023

I am writing this post without much enthusiasm, but with a sense of duty. This blog will be 20 years old soon, and though I rarely post here anymore, I owe it some attention. Of course in 2023, "Swift" now means one thing only, Taylor Swift, the billionaire musician. Gone are the days when I was asked if I was related to Jonathan Swift. The pre-eminent cultural Swift is now alive and TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR. There is no point in belabouring the obvious with delay: 2023 was a low-point in the low annals of human history - war, invasion, murder, in too many nations. Hate, division, the collapse of what truth is, exacerbated by advances in AI that may or may not prove apocalyptic, while global warming still seems to threaten the near-future safety of humanity. It's been deeply depressing. The world lost some wonderful poets, actors, musicians, and writers this year, as it often does. Two people I knew and admired greatly, Ian Ferrier and Kevin Higgins, poets and organise
1 comment
Read more