🎤 ANNOUNCING: Forward Prizes Ceremony 2025 @southbankcentre 📅 Sun 26 Oct | 🕢 7:30pm | 📍 Southbank Centre 20 poets. 4 prizes. 1 unforgettable night of poetry! Tickets 🎟️: https://t.co/Zzd7IgZGd4 #ForwardPrizes #PoetryLive

Congratulations to all, and thank you to our supporters - the Jerwood Foundation, Arts Council England, the John Ellerman Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies, Cockayne Grants for the Arts, and a number of individual donors.

The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed 2025: ‘Where I’m From’ by Griot Gabriel by (originally performed at Manchester UNESCO City of Literature).

The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Written 2025: ‘At Least’ by Abeer Ameer (published by Modron Magazine)

The Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection 2025: ‘Chaotic Good’ by Isabelle Baafi (published by Faber)

The Forward Prize for Best Collection 2025 (joint): ‘Avidyā’ by Vidyan Ravinthiran (published by Bloodaxe Books) & ‘Wellwater’ by Karen Solie (published by Picador, Pan Macmillan)

The winners of the #ForwardPrizes 2025!

Only one week until the shortlist readings & winner announcements at Forward Prizes Ceremony 2025. Don’t miss it! https://t.co/SgZgfyUwFP #ForwardPrizes #LondonLiteratureFestival #Poetry

🚨 One week to go! 🚨 Join us 25 Oct @SouthbankCentre for Next Verse: A Young Poets’ Summit Showcase. A celebration of poetry, craft + community with the UK’s most exciting young voices. 🎟️ From £10. Ages 14+.

Celebrate the best in UK & Ireland poetry. Join the Forward Prizes Ceremony 2025 @SouthbankCentre, 26 Oct @ 7pm. Tickets from £15: https://t.co/Yp5EBwG8A8 #ForwardPrizes #Poetry

Meet the Poets continues! Next up for Best Collection: Southernmost by Leo Boix (@LeoBoix). A visionary sonnet sequence connecting Latin America, colonial history, & poetic form. Read the full interview: https://t.co/BSXwMOm9LQ #ForwardPrizes #Poetry #Southernmost

Meet the Poets continues! We’re now moving into our next category: the Forward Prize for Best Collection. First up is Juana Adcock, whose collection I Sugar the Bones (@outspokenldn) is shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Forward Prize. 🔗 https://t.co/PIQTDHCP8z

Poetry lovers, this one’s for you! ✨📚 Join us at #ContainsStrongLanguage for the Forward Prizes Showcase, where boundary-pushing poets take the stage to share work that’s bold, brilliant, and unforgettable. 🔗 Book now: https://t.co/w8x9tcT0rR @bbccslfest @bbcarts

Don’t miss the Forward Prizes Showcase at #ContainsStrongLanguage — a celebration of the most vital voices in contemporary poetry. Step into an afternoon of powerful performances from poets featured in the 2025 Forward Book of Poetry. 🔗 Book now: https://t.co/w8x9tcT0rR

Rounding off our Meet the Poets series for Best Single Poem – Written is Nick Makoha, shortlisted for ‘Codex©’. Fusing personal history, diaspora, and artistic legacy, this poem is a meditative reflection on identity, memory, and cultural ownership. https://t.co/Nf69wgc2J3

Next up in the series is Claire Lynn, shortlisted for her poem ‘Live Stream’. This poem is a quiet meditation on observation, community, and the rhythms of care—both human and wild. Read the full interview via this link: https://t.co/0PplNy3Svx

There’s still time to join us at #ContainsStrongLanguage! 🎉📖 The event celebrates the best new poetry from the Forward Prizes 2025. Book your free tickets & see the full festival lineup here: 🔗 https://t.co/w8x9tcT0rR @bbcarts @bbccslfest

Next up is Tim Tim Cheng, shortlisted for their poem ‘Girl Ghosts’, blending memory, myth, and migration. The poem is a polyvocal exploration of girlhood, cultural inheritance, and the fractured stories passed down through generations. Full interview: https://t.co/0lLJzSYZoD

REMINDER! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! The Forward Prizes Ceremony 2025 🎉 📅 Sunday 26 October | 🕢 7:30pm | 📍 Southbank Centre 🎟️ Tickets on sale now: https://t.co/HWolSS0NJJ #ForwardPrizes #PoetryLive #SouthbankCentre #UKPoetry #PoetryAwards #SpokenWord

We are proud to reannounce the exceptional shortlist for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, celebrating the finest in contemporary poetry. Congratulations once again to all the poets and publishers! 🔗 Full shortlist: https://t.co/ljbMaZIvwG #ForwardPrizes

We are excited to reintroduce the powerful shortlist for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection, honouring remarkable debut voices in poetry. 🔗 Full shortlist: https://t.co/ljbMaZIvwG #ForwardPrizes