Top
Skip to Content
LOGO(small) - Queen's University Belfast
  • Our facebook
  • Our instagram
  • Our twitter
  • Our
LOGO(large) - Queen's University Belfast

The Seamus Heaney Centre

  • Home
  • About
    • The Centre
    • The Blackbird
    • The Heaney Community
    • Literary Belfast
  • Our People
    • The SHC Fellows
    • Ciaran Carson & Publishing Fellows
    • Fulbright Scholars
    • Children's Writing Fellow
    • Visiting International Poetry Fellows
    • Ireland Chair of Poetry
  • Study
    • The Poetry Summer School
    • Student Showcases and Opportunities
    • Future Screens
    • Writing Groups
    • New Students...
    • SHC X Fighting Words
  • First Collection Poetry Prize
    • Poetry Prize 2021
    • Poetry Prize 2020
    • Poetry Prize 2022
  • Resources
    • The SHC Podcast
    • SHC Publications
    • Criticism & Ideas on Writing
    • Films & Virtual Events
    • Writers' Interviews
    • Tiny Masterclasses
  • News
  • Events
    • SHC Presents...
    • Ekphrasis: Writing & Art
    • The Book Club Series
    • Conferences
    • International Poets' Series
    • Masterclasses
    • SHC at the Festivals
  • Home
  • About
    • The Centre
    • The Blackbird
    • The Heaney Community
    • Literary Belfast
  • Our People
    • The SHC Fellows
    • Ciaran Carson & Publishing Fellows
    • Fulbright Scholars
    • Children's Writing Fellow
    • Visiting International Poetry Fellows
    • Ireland Chair of Poetry
  • Study
    • The Poetry Summer School
    • Student Showcases and Opportunities
    • Future Screens
    • Writing Groups
    • New Students...
    • SHC X Fighting Words
  • First Collection Poetry Prize
    • Poetry Prize 2021
    • Poetry Prize 2020
    • Poetry Prize 2022
  • Resources
    • The SHC Podcast
    • SHC Publications
    • Criticism & Ideas on Writing
    • Films & Virtual Events
    • Writers' Interviews
    • Tiny Masterclasses
  • News
  • Events
    • SHC Presents...
    • Ekphrasis: Writing & Art
    • The Book Club Series
    • Conferences
    • International Poets' Series
    • Masterclasses
    • SHC at the Festivals
  • Our facebook
  • Our instagram
  • Our twitter
In This Section

  • Home
  • Seamus Heaney Centre
  • News

News

First Collection Poetry Prize 2020 - The Shortlist

8 June, 2020

The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s is delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2020 Poetry Prize, supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies.

The Shortlist includes:  

Fléche, by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber, 2019) 

Significant Other, by Isabel Galleymore (Carcanet, 2019) 

A Man’s House Catches Fire, by Tom Sastry (Nine Arches Press, 2019) 

So Many Rooms, by Laura Scott (Carcanet, 2019) 

Fold, by Lucy Wadham (Pindrop Press, 2019)

The winner will be announced during the Seamus Heaney Centre’s annual Poetry Summer School, at a virtual Award Night on Thu 2 Jul 2020. 

 

The Seamus Heaney First Collection 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.  

This year’s judges are Professor Nick Laird, poet and Chair of Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre; Professor Frank Ormsby, Ireland Chair of Poetry; and Dr Leontia Flynn, poet and reader in Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre.  

Speaking about the prize Nick Laird, Chair of the judging panel said: 

“This year there were 43 entrants for the Seamus Heaney award for the best debut collection published in the UK and Ireland, and as always the judges were deeply impressed with the creativity on display. There was immense diversity in tone and subject matter, and it was a struggle to narrow the candidates down to only five books. The shortlist we’ve chosen represents not just accomplishment but also potential. 

Each book on the shortlist is ambitious enough to find, amid the deafening static of real life, a space to communicate in. We were put in mind of John Hewitt’s prescription: I do not pitch my voice/ that every phrase be heard / by those who have no choice: / their quality of mind / must be withdrawn and still, / as moth that answers moth / across a roaring hill. Any one of these books would be a worthy winner, and all are worth your time.” 

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty at Queen’s Communications Office on +44 (0)28 9097 3259 or email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk

For further information contact Rachel Brown, Seamus Henaey Centre Coordinator at r.brown@qub.ac.uk

 

Share
Latest News
  • BBC Storytellers: Seamus Heaney Centre special episodes
    27 March, 2023
  • VERSschmuggel - reVERSible Belfast-Berlin
    23 March, 2023
  • Queen’s announces the Seamus Heaney Centre’s latest Fellowships for 2023
    8 February, 2023
  • NI Children’s Writing Fellow calls out to schools to explore visual literacy
    26 January, 2023
  • BBC Storytellers: Seamus Heaney Centre special episodes
    22 January, 2023
Home
  • Home
  • About
  • Our People
  • Study
  • First Collection Poetry Prize
  • Resources
  • News
  • Events
Queen's University Belfast - Logo (small)
Contact Us

Seamus Heaney Centre
University Road, Belfast
BT7 1NN

GET DIRECTIONS

Phone: 028 9097 1077
Email: shc@qub.ac.uk 

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Study
  • People
  • Literary Belfast
  • News
  • Events

© Queen's University Belfast 2023
Privacy and cookies
Website accessibility
Freedom of information
Modern slavery statement
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Manage cookies