Laurel Prize Shortlist
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Fiona Benson
Fiona Benson has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘Bluebells’ from her collection Midden Witch. Image credit: Jessica Farmer of Perspectives Photography About Fiona Fiona Benson lives in Devon with her husband and their two daughters. Midden Witch is her fourth collection and was preceded by Bright Travellers (Seamus Heaney Prize for…
Poetry School
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Brandon Kilbourne
Brandon Kilbourne has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about him and his poem ‘Blindfold Wonder’ from his collection Natural History. Image credit: Jamila K. Grote About Brandon Brandon Kilbourne has a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Chicago and over twenty years of experience as a research biologist at natural…
Poetry School
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Cathy Galvin
Cathy Galvin has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘Blunt Needles’ from her collection Ethnology. Image credit: Kinga & Maciej Krzyminscy About Cathy Cathy Galvin’s debut poetry book, Ethnology: a love song for Connemara (Bloodaxe Books, 2026), was longlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2026….
Poetry School
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Laura Wainwright
Laura Wainwright has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘River Roses’ from her collection The Storm’s Flora. About Laura Laura Wainwright is from Newport, South Wales. Her debut poetry collection, The Storm’s Flora (Seren), was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize 2026 and won the Wales…
Poetry School
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Jane Lovell
Jane Lovell has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘Gyrfalcon’ from her collection Tipping Point. Image credit: Christopher Jelley About Jane Winner of the Ginkgo Prize, Jane Lovell explores the shifting relationship between people and the natural world. Her latest collection, Tipping Point, draws on polar exploration,…
Poetry School
Shortlist Announcement: The Laurel Prize 2026
The Poetry School and UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage are delighted to announce the shortlist for The Laurel Prize 2026, rewarding the best nature and environmental poetry books of the year. This prize is funded by Simon Armitage’s Laureate’s honorarium, which he receives annually from the King, and is run by the Poetry School. It…
Beth Evans (Poetry School)