Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize goes to Simon Armitage
14th October 2010
Simon Armitage has been named the winner of the Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize 2010 for his poem 'The Present'.
The West Yorkshire-born poet is the highest profile writer to date to have won the prize, which asks for entrants to craft Romantic-inspired verse on modern themes.
Armitage commented: 'I'm not sure if it's possible to be a Romantic poet anymore, but more and more poets seem to be turning their eye towards nature.'
'The Present' was inspired by an incident in the mild winter of 2008/09, when the poet ventured onto the moors to find an icicle to give to his daughter as a gift but was forced to return empty-handed.
At an awards ceremony at the British Academy in London, it was also announced that Andrew Lacey scooped the Keats-Shelley Essay Prize 2010.
Lacey, a doctoral student at Newcastle University, won the award for 'Wings of Poesy: Keats's Birds'. The prize only accepts essays written about Romantic icons such as Lord Byron, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Last year, DH Maitreyabandhu won the Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize for 'The Small Boy and the Mouse', while Jillian Hess' 'This Living Hand: Commonplacing Keats' took the essay accolade.