Jay Bernard has won the £5,000 Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award for Surge, an extraordinary exploration of the New Cross Fire of 1981, in which 13 young black people were killed in south London.
Bernard traces a line from the New Cross Fire to the “towers of blood” of the Grenfell fire, while exploring the deeply personal stories of the communities that it affected, as well as the wider context of black British history.
He follows in the footsteps of now-household names in the literary world such as Zadie Smith, Simon Armitage and Sally Rooney, as well as 2019 winner Raymond Antrobus. This year’s shortlist also featured Irish writers Naoise Dolan and Seán Hewitt.
Judge Houman Barekat said: “Surge reads and feels like a unified whole. The collection pans seamlessly from micro level to macro level narratives; from the lives of individuals to the broad sweep of history. These poems evoke a lost past while nodding pointedly to the struggles of the present.”
Fellow judge Kit de Waal said: “Surge is a powerful, beautiful collection of poetry. Personal, political, unapologetic, written in the beautiful cadence of patois and black music… I absolutely loved it.”
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Tomorow’s book reviews include Séamas O’Reilly on the best graphic novels of the year; Dani Gill on Secrets Never Told by Dermot Bolger; Matthew O’Toole on My Life in Loyalism by Billy Hutchinson with Gareth Mulvenna; Mia Levitin on Missionaries by Phil Klay; Eoin Ó Broin on This Land: The Story of a Movement by Owen Jones; Niamh Donnelly on Daddy by Emma Cline; Martina evans and Seán Hewitt on the best poetry of the year; and Sarah gilmartin on the best debuts of 2020.
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Paper Lanterns' third issue is due out on Monday, December 14th. The latest edition of the new teen and YA journal features interviews with Deirdre Sullivan, Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn and the Forever Young Adults Podcast; new writing from Oyanne Gahan, Sinéad Creedon, Mark Stewart, Angel Ifyawuchi, Charlotte Edwards, Megan Rutter, and Paxton Calder; and an essay on LGBTQIA+ representation in YA literature by Jenny Duffy. It is open to submissions for issue four until December 20th from anyone over the age of 13. Details can be found on the website.
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The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation in collaboration with Druid Theatre is releasing a set of short films recognizing the importance of Coole Park in Co Galway, the home of Lady Augusta Gregory, as an incubator for Irish literary culture. Each Tuesday and Wednesday in December and early January, the Poetry Foundation will share them on its website. The first film in the series, which recognizes this heritage by documenting the artistic conversation between Ireland's past and today, is The Illegitimate performed by the ATMOS Collective.
The Coole Park Poetry Series involves poets of different cultural backgrounds living in Ireland, reading both their own work and the work of poets associated with Coole Park, including Lady Gregory, WB Yeats, and JM Synge. The poets filmed are Seán Hewitt, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, FeliSpeaks, Evgeny Shtorn, and ATMOS Collective, a group of Galway-based artists who work with music, film, spoken word, and theater. All nine films were recorded on the grounds of Coole Park in September as part of DruidGregory and directed by filmmaker Matthew Thompson.
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The annual Pigott Poetry Prize, presented at Listowel Writers' Week, is the largest prize for a poetry collection by an Irish Poet. The first prize has been increased from €10,000 to €12,000 and the two shortlisted finalists each receive €1,000. Closing date for receipt of collections is February 1st, 2021. Details here.
The prize is sponsored by philanthropist Mark Pigott who said: “It is a blessing to be able to support this wonderful literary award and recognise the leading poets of Ireland and showcase the beauty, diversity and strength of Irish poetry. Poetry is wonderful every day, but even more important during these uncertain times.”
This year’s adjudicators are poets Maura Dooley and Mark Waldron. Chairperson Catherine Moylan said: “Poetry has proved to provide solace for many of us over the last year. We are delighted to get the opportunity to continue to celebrate Irish Poetry and shine a light on talented poets through the generous Pigott Poetry Prize. We are extremely grateful to Mark Pigott and his family for their continued support of this award.”
Listowel Writers’ Week takes place from June 2nd-6th 2021.
