The Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets are annual awards for pamphlets published in the UK. The awards aim to promote the pamphlet form and to enable poets and publishers to develop and continue creating. Since their inception, they have grown to include three annual awards, for "Poetry Pamphlet", "Publisher" and "Illustration", carrying prizes of up to £5,000, and awarding places on "The Michael Marks Poets in Residence Program" in Greece. Additional awards have included the "Poetry Pamphlet in a Celtic Language" and, as of 2022, the Environmental Poet of the Year prize.
The awards were founded in 2009 by the Michael Marks Charitable Trust, in a collaboration with the British Library that continues to this day. They are funded entirely by the Michael Marks Charitable Trust, and are enabled through partnerships between the British Library, the Wordsworth Trust, The TLS and the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, and in association with the National Library of Wales and the National Library of Scotland. As of 2012, the awards have been administered by Wordsworth Trust. The Michael Marks Charitable Trust was established in 1966 by the late Lord Marks, 2nd Baron of Broughton."The Organisations behind the Awards", British Library, 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011. Both awards carry a prize of £5,000.
The Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney praised the prize's establishment:
Winners and nominees The award recognises an outstanding work of poetry published in pamphlet form – defined by the Awards as containing no more than 36 pages – in the UK.
The following is a list of shortlisted pamphlets. Winners are listed in yellow, first in their year.
YearAuthorTitlePublisherRef(s)Judges 2009 Elizabeth Burns The Shortest Days Galdragon Press Ian McMillan Jackie Kay Richard PricePolly Atkin Bone Song Aussteiger PublicationsSiobhán Campbell That Water Speaks in Tongues Templar PoetrySarah Jackson Milk Pighog PressKate Potts Whichever music Tall Lighthouseseekers of lice quot self-published 2010 Selima Hill Advice on Wearing Animal Prints Flarestack Poets Ali Smith Jo Shapcott Richard PriceTom Chivers The Terrors Nine Arches PressDavid Hart The Titanic Café closes its doors and hits the rocks Nine Arches PressHugh McMillan Devorgilla's Bridge Roncadora PressRichard Moorhead The Reluctant Vegetarian Oystercatcher PressNii Ayikwei Parkes ballast: a remix Tall Lighthouse 2011 James McGonigall Cloud Pibroch Mariscat Lavinia Greenlaw Robert Hampson Richard PriceNeil Addison Apocapulco Salt PublishingSimon Armitage The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right Smith/DoorstopSean Burn mo thunder The Knives, Forks and Spoons PressOlive Broderick Darkhaired Templar PoetryRalph Hawkins Happy Whale Fat Smile Oystercatcher Press 2012 Róisín Tierney Dream Endings Rack Press Alan Jenkins Tanya Kirk Carola LutherPaul Bentley Largo Smith/DoorstopDouglas Dunn Invisible Ink Mariscat PressCharlotte Gann The Long Woman Pighog PressMaitreyabandhu The Bond Smith/Doorstop 2013 David Clarke Gaud Flarestack Poets Tanya Kirk Thea Lenarduzzi Judy BrownKim Lasky Petrol Cyan Electric Smith/DoorstopKim Moore If We Could Speak Like Wolves Smith/DoorstopBen Parker The Escape Artists Tall LighthouseNeil Rollinson Talking Dead Aussteiger PublicationsChrissy Williams Flying into the Bear HappenStance Press 2014 Laura Scott What I Saw The Rialto (poetry magazine) Zaffar Kunial Tanya Kirk Andrew McCullochChristine de Luca Dat Trickster Sun Mariscat PressMimi Khalvati Earthshine Smith/DoorstopIan McMillan Jazz Peas Smith/DoorstopRichard Moorhead The Word Museum Flarestack PoetsSamantha Wynne-Rhyderrch Lime and Winter Rack Press 2015 Gill McEvoy The First Telling HappenStance Press Debbie Cox Helen Mort Rory WatermanAlan Jenkins Clutag Five Poems Series No. 2 Clutag PressAnja Konig Advice for an Only Child flipped eye publishing (flap pamphlet series)Peter Riley The Ascent of Kinder Scout Longbarrow PressDavid Tait Three Dragon Day Smith/Doorstop 2016 Richard Scott Wound The Rialto Lavinia Greenlaw Robert Hampson Richard PricePolly ClarkA Handbook for the Afterlife.Templar PoetryFiona MooreNight LetterHappenStance PressCamille RalphsMalkinEmma PressLizzi ThistlethwayteAngels and Other DipteraWater Flag Press 2017 Charlotte Wetton I Refuse to Turn into a Hatstand Calder Valley Press. Leaf Arbuthnot Phil Hatfield Ruth Padel Sir Nicholas PennyNatacha BryanIf I Talked Everything my Eyes Saw.Gatehouse Press Lighthouse.Alyson HallettTootsMariscat PressTheophilus KwekThe First Five StormsSmith/DoorstopPhoebe StuckesGin & TonicSmith/Doorstop 2018 Carol Rumens Bezdelki The Emma Press Gina WilsonIt Was and It Wasn'tMariscat PressRakhshan RizwanPaisleyThe Emma PressIan ParksIf Possible (Cavafy Poems) Calder Valley PoetryLiz BerryThe Republic of MotherhoodChatto & Windus 2019 Rowan Evans The last verses of Beccán Guillemot Press Seán HewittLanternOfford Road BooksAnita PatiDodo provocateurThe RialtoDeclan RyanFighters, losersNew Walk EditionsMorgan Owenmoroedd/dŵrCyhoeddiadau'r Stamp 2020 Paul Muldoon Binge The Lifeboat Gail McConnellFothermatherInk Sweat and Tears PressJamie McKendrickThe yearsArc PublicationsSarah WimbushBloodlinesSerenAlycia PirmohamedHingeignitionpressRhys IowerthCarthen denauCyhoeddiadau'r Stamp 2021 Gboyega Odubanjo Aunty uncle poems The Poetry Business Julia Copus André Naffis-Sahely Manuela PellegrinoFiona BensonAriadneBroken Sleep BooksHolly SinglehurstThe sky turned thick as honeyThe RialtoMatthew HollisLeavesHazel PressSelima HillFridgeThe RialtoHugo WilliamsBadlandsMariscat PressLeontia FlynnNina Simone is singingMariscat Press 2022 Shane McCrae Hex and Other Poems Bad Betty Press John Glenday Stephanie Sy-Quia Natasha Bershadsky Giulia Carla RossiNaush SabahLitaniesGuillemot PressMaya C PopaDear LifeSmith/DoorstopMatthew HaighVampiresBad Betty PressTomi AdegbayibiColours & Tea (Human)Muscaliet Press John BurnsideApostasyDare-Gale Press
2016 shortlist announcement. Winner announcement. Wound, by Richard Scott. 2017 shortlist announcement. Winner announcement. I Refuse to Turn into a Hatstand, by Charlotte Wetton.
Michael Marks Publishers' Award The Michael Marks Publishers' Award recognises an outstanding UK publisher of poetry in pamphlet form.
The following is a list of shortlisted publishers. Winners are listed in yellow, first in their year.
YearPublisherRef(s)Judges 2009 Oystercatcher Press Ian McMillan Jackie Kay Richard PriceHappenStance PressTall LighthouseTemplar Poetry 2010 HappenStance Press Ali Smith Jo Shapcott Richard PriceOystercatcher PressTemplar PoetryVeer Books 2011 Crater Press Lavinia Greenlaw Richard Hampson Richard PriceKater Murr's PressThe Knives, Forks and Spoons PressMariscat PressRoncadora Press 2012 Smith/Doorstop Alan Jenkins Tanya Kirk Carola LutherDonut PressPighog PressRack Press 2013 Flarestack Poets Tanya Kirk Thea Lenarduzzi Judy BrownMariscat PressRack PressPighog PressShearsman Books 2014 Rack Press Zaffar Kunial Tanya Kirk Andrew McCullochEmma Pressflipped eye publishingSmith/DoorstopShearsman Books 2015 Mariscat Press Debbie Cox Helen Mort Rory WatermanEyewear PublishingSmith/DoorstopThe Emma Press
Award for Poetry in a Celtic Language
In 2019, the inaugural Michael Marks Award for Poetry in a Celtic Language was awarded to Morgan Owen for his pamphlet moroedd/dŵr, published by Cyhoeddiadau'r Stamp.
Michael Marks Award for Environmental Poet of the Year This was inaugurated 2022-23 and recognises an outstanding UK poetry in pamphlet form about climate change, its effects and what to do about it. There is one award each year. They have been:
2022-23: Linda France for Letters to Katłįà published by The Wordsworth Trust. 2023-24: Jane Burn with A Thousand Miles from the Sea 2024-25: Ben Verinder with How to save a river.
References
External links Michael Marks Awards, official website of the Awards Michael Marks Awards, official website at British Library