Primers Shortlist and Longlist Announced

This July, we set up our virtual in-tray and invited submissions to the second year of our publishing and mentoring programme, Primers, in association with Nine Arches Press. Our Primers scheme will find three new poets whose work we’d like to foster, publish and promote.

Thousands of poems later, Judges Jane Commane and Jacob Sam-La Rose are delighted to announce the Primers Shortlist. The following poets sent us six-poem submissions which caught the pair’s attention …

Ben Bransfield                   Broseley and Delivery (two submissions shortlisted)
Cynthia Miller                   Primers Volume 2 submission
Emma Jeremy                  All the Cows Lie Down
Marjorie Lofti-Gill                       Refuge
Marvin Thompson         An Interview with Comedy Genius Olivier Welsh
Matthew Dixon                of varying frequency
Michelle Penn                   Street of Needles
Miranda Peake                 A chance
Paul Adrian                         Small Ceremonies
Samuel Prince                   The Lies of Lonesome Roamers

… although these poets on the Longlist should also be heartily commended. They are Claire Cox, Eleanor Penny, Helen Adie, Jessica Mookherjee (two submissions longlisted), Joanna Ingham, John Barron, Lesley Sharpe, Lorraine O’Reilly, Mary Jean Chan (two submissions longlisted), Mat Riches, Michael Brown, Nicola Bray, Pey Pey Oh, Pnina Shinebourne, Samuel Prince (one submission shortlisted and one longlisted), Seraphima Kennedy, Tanaka Mhishi and Will Johnson.

Shortlisted poets are now sending us longer selections of their work, and from these, Jane and Jacob will pick the three poets who will go on to take part in the full Primers scheme.

We’ll be publishing a few of the Shortlisted poems here on the blog over the coming weeks, and you’ll be able to read them all in April next year when the second Primers book is published.

Congratulations to all Longlisted and Shortlisted poets!