The First Collection Poetry Prize celebrates the work of the Seamus Heaney Centre and honours Heaney himself. It is awarded to a writer whose first, full collection has been published in the preceding year, by a UK or Ireland-based publisher. The winner receives £5,000.

The Poetry Prize is awarded as part of the Seamus Heaney Legacy Project, a joint 10-year fund between Queen's University Belfast and the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, generously supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies.