Commonwealth Poetry Prize
The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972,[1] for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the National Book League.[2]
In 1985 the prize received sponsorship from British Airways. £11,000 prize money was provided for the prize, which was advertized as "the world's most comprehensive award for poetry".[3]
Poems by 35 winners of the prize, each introduced with a brief biographical note, were collected in a 1987 anthology, Under another Sky.[4]
The prize was discontinued in 1987, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize established in its place.
Commonwealth prize winners
| Year | Winners |
|---|---|
| 1972 | Chinua Achebe, Beware Soul Brother (1971) George McWhirter, Catalan Poems (1971) Commended: Richard Ntiru, David Mitchell |
| 1973 | Wayne Brown, On the Coast (1972) |
| 1974 | Dennis Scott, Uncle Time (1973) |
| 1975 | |
| 1976 | Michael Jackson, Latitudes of Exile: Poems 1965–1975 (1976) Runners-up: Peter Kocan, The Other Side of the Fence |
| 1977 | Arun Kolatkar, Jejuri (1976) Runner-up: R. Parthasarathy, Rough Passage (1977) |
| 1978 | Timoshenko Aslanides |
| 1979 | Brian Turner, Ladders of Rain (1978) Gabriel Okra |
| 1980 | Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Crossing the Peninsula (1980) Audrey Longbottom, Relatives and Reliques (1979) |
| 1981 | Philip Salom, The Silent Piano (1980) |
| 1982 | Peter Goldsworthy, Readings from Ecclesiastes: Poems (1982) |
| 1983 | Grace Nichols, I is a Long-Memoried Woman (1983) |
| 1984 | David Dabydeen, Slave Song (1984) Runner-up: Syd Harrex, Atlantis and other Islands. |
| 1985 | Lauris Edmond, Selected Poems (1984) Regional Prizes: Vikram Seth (Asia), Timothy Holmes, Michael Longley, Kobena Eyi Acquah, Gary Geddes |
| 1986 | Lorna Goodison, I am Becoming My Mother (1986) Regional Prizes: Anne Michaels (Americas), Iain Chrichton Smith |
| 1987 | Philip Salom, Sky Poems (1986) Regional Prizes: Tanure Ojaide (Africa) |
References
- Alastair Niven, 'The Commonwealth poetry prize', in Richard Maltby and Peter Quartermaine, eds., The Commonwealth: a common culture, pp.53-62.
- William Henry Wilde; Joy W. Hooton; B. G. Andrews (1985). "Commonwealth Poetry Prize". The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-19-554233-2.
- News & Notes, PN Review 44, July–August 1985. Accessed 1 September 2020.
- Alastair Niven, ed., Under another sky: an anthology of Commonwealth Poetry Prize winners. Manchester, England: Carcanet, 1987.
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