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Poetry Prize 2022

We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2022 Seamus Heaney Poetry Prize for a First Collection, supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies. The winner will be announced during the Seamus Heaney Centre’s annual Poetry Summer School, at the Award Night readings in June 2022.

“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.”

- Nick Laird, Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at Queen's, and judge of the Poetry Prize

And the Winner is....

THE SHORTLIST 2022

The Time Being

by John Fitzgerald (Gallery, 2021)

Aurora Town

by Annie Katchinska (Broken Sleep, 2021)

Eat Or We Both Starve

by Victoria Kennefick (Carcanet, 2021)

Honorifcs

by Cynthia Miller (Nine Arches Press, 2021)

The Important Things

by Audrey Molloy (Gallery Books, 2021)

Deltas

by Leonie Rushforth (Prototype, 2021)

About the Judges 2022
Nick Laird, Stephen Sexton and Jessica Traynor

The Seamus Heaney Chair of Poetry Nick Laird, is joined this year by our colleague Stephen Sexton, and poet Jessica Traynor.

Jessica Traynor is a poet, essayist and librettist. Her debut poetry collection, Liffey Swim (Dedalus Press, 2014), was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award and in 2016 was named one of the best poetry debuts of the past five years on Bustle.com. The Quick was a 2019 Irish Times poetry choice. Awards include the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary and Hennessy New Writer of the Year. Paper Boat, a new opera commission from Irish National Opera, will premiere in 2022. Slapped Actor, a book of essays, has been listed for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize and the Deborah Rogers Foundation Award in 2021. Residencies in 2021-22 include the Yeats Society Sligo, The Seamus Heaney Home Place and the DLR LexIcon. She is a Creative Fellow of UCD. Her third collection, Pit Lullabies, was published by Bloodaxe Books in March 2022, and is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. 

Nick Laird is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, and critic from Northern Ireland. He is the author of four poetry collections, including Feel Free (2019) and Go Giants (2013), and the children's book Weirdo (2021), written in collaboration with his wife Zadie Smith. He teaches at New York University and is the Seamus Heaney Chair of Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s. He lives in London and New York. 

Stephen Sexton is a poet and educator from Northern Ireland. His debut collection If All the World and Love Were Young (Penguin, 2019) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. His pamphlet, Oils (Emma Press, 2014) was the Poetry Book Society’s Winter Pamphlet Choice of that year. He has won numerous awards including the UK National Poetry Competition, and an Eric Gregory Award. Stephen is a lecturer in Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s.

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THE WINNER 2021

Watch last year's virtual Award Night readings here. 

AWARD NIGHT 2022

Join us for the Award Night readings, live and in-person on Thu 23 Jun at 7.00pm in the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast. 
Register now...

Seamus Heaney Centre Entrance
First Collection Poetry Prize 2022 - The Award Night - Date: 23/06/2022

Date: 23/06/2022
Time: 7:00PM - 8:00PM
Location: The Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast
Category: Interview, Performance

First Collection Poetry Prize
  • First Collection Poetry Prize
  • Poetry Prize 2021
  • Poetry Prize 2020
  • Poetry Prize 2022
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