Shortlist for the Pollard Poetry Prize announced
Posted on: 22 February 2023
The shortlist for the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize 2023 has been announced today, Wednesday 22nd February 2023, by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre. This is the fifth year of the prize, awarded annually for an outstanding debut collection of poetry in the English language.
Valued at €10,000, the prize is sponsored by the John Pollard Foundation, and administered by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. The patron of the John Pollard Foundation is Stephen Vernon, who named the Foundation in memory of his grandfather, John Pollard.
The shortlisted publications are:
- James Conor Patterson bandit country (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
- Mark Pajak Slide (Jonathan Cape)
- Padraig Regan Some Integrity (Carcanet Press)
- Warsan Shire Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (Chatto and Windus)
- Jo Clement Outlandish (Bloodaxe Books)
- Victoria Adukwei Bulley Quiet (Faber and Faber)
Announcing the 2023 shortlist, chair of the judging panel, Professor Eoin McNamee, Director of the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre said:
“If the condition of poetry and its standing in the world is to be judged by the 62 entries to the John Pollard prize then we’re in a good place. Every book had something to make the reader stop and stare, the range and diversity of the work astounded. It was a privilege for myself and fellow judges Phillip Coleman, Vona Groarke and Alice Lyons to read and debate this work.”
The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Trinity on 3rd May 2023. Previous winners of the prize were Hannah Sullivan (2019); Isabel Galleymore (2020); Diane Louie (2021); and Gail McConnell (2022).
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