Announcing the shortlist for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize 2022.
The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast has announced the shortlist for their 2022 Poetry Prize for a First Collection, supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies.
The Shortlist includes:
The Time Being, by John FitzGerald (Gallery Books, 2021)
Aurora Town, by Annie Katchinska (Broken Sleep, 2021)
Eat Or We Both Starve, by Victoria Kennefick (Carcanet, 2021)
Honorifics, by Cynthia Miller (Nine Arches Press, 2021)
The Important Things, by Audrey Molloy (Gallery Books, 2021)
Deltas, by Leonie Rushforth (Prototype, 2021)
The Seamus Heaney Centre Poetry Prize is awarded to a writer whose first full collection has been published in the preceding year, by a UK or Ireland-based publisher. The winning writer receives £5,000 and is invited to participate in the Seamus Heaney Centre’s busy calendar of literary events. The winner will be announced at the Award Night readings in the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast in July 2022.
This year’s judges are Professor Nick Laird, poet and Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at Queen’s University; Dr Stephen Sexton, poet and lecturer in Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre. They are joined by the acclaimed poet Jess Traynor.
Speaking about the prize Nick Laird, Chair of the judging panel said:
“The Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize is a highlight of the Seamus Heaney Centre’s year, and this year we saw a wonderful range and variety of debuts. We were impressed by the imagination and daring of the shortlisted books, and look forward to what the shortlisted writers do next.”
The winning and shortlisted writers will read at an event on Thu 23 Jun, as part of the Seamus Heaney Poetry Summer School, supported by No Alibis Bookstore. The event will take place in person for the first time since 2019, at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast.
ENDS...
Notes to Editor:
1. About the Seamus Heaney Centre
Since 2003 the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s has been home to some of the UK and Ireland’s foremost poets, novelists, scriptwriters, and critics. Building on a literary heritage at Queen’s University Belfast that stretches back to the 1960s ‘Belfast Group’, the Centre is dedicated to excellence and innovation in creative writing and poetry criticism.
Media
Media enquiries to Sian Devlin at Queen’s Communications Office on +44 (0)28 9097 3259 or email: s.devlin@qub.ac.uk
Further Information contact:
Rachel Brown | Centre Coordinator | Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s r.brown@qub.ac.uk | +44(0)28 9097 1077 | http://www.seamusheaneycentre.com/