24th September, 2024

Taz Rahman longlisted for the Laurel Prize 2024

Congratulations Taz Rahman whose debut collection East of the Sun, West of the Moon has been longlisted for the Laurel Prize for Poetry 2024.

The prize, set up by poet laureate Simon Armitage and run by the Poetry School, is awarded annually to the best collection of environmental or nature poetry published that year. This year’s judges are Mona Arshi, Caroline Bird and Kwame Dawes.

The shortlist will be announced on Monday 7 October, with prizes of £5,000 (1st prize), £2,000 (2nd prize), and £1,000 (3rd prize) awarded to the winners. There’s also a £500 award for each of the Best First Collection UK and Best International First Collection. In addition, winners will receive a commission from National Landscapes to create a poem based on their favourite UK landscape.

Poets from the 21 strong longlist will be reading at the Laurel Prize Ceremony which is due to take place on Saturday 19th October at Yorkshire Sculpture Park as part of the inaugural Poetry School Summit, as well as being live streamed.