Seamus Heaney wins 2010 Forward Prize
7th October 2010
Northern Irish poet Seamus Heaney has been named the winner of the 2010 Forward Prize for best collection.
Heaney won the GBP 10,000 prize for his 12th collection Human Chain. He has been shortlisted for the award twice before, but this is the first time the poet has taken the accolade.
Ruth Padel, chair of the judges, described the winning work as 'a collection of painful, honest and delicately weighted poems'.
Although he was unable to attend last night's (October 6th) awards ceremony, a statement read on Heaney's behalf praised the quality of the shortlisted collections and the 'distinction' of previous Forward Prize recipients.
'It is one of the most enhancing rewards which the art and the individual artist can be granted. I am truly grateful to all concerned,' he concluded.
The 2010 shortlist featured Robin Robertson's The Wrecking Light and Small Hours by Lachlan Mackinnon. It was completed by Sinead Morrissey's Through the Square Window, Rough Music by Fiona Sampson and Jo Shapcott's Of Mutability.
Last year, the Forward Prize was scooped by Don Paterson for his collection Rain.