Forward Prize 2009

Don Paterson has been shortlisted for the prestigious Forward Prize for best poetry collection, for his forthcoming Rain. The other poets shortlisted in the category are Peter Porter (Better Than God), Christopher Reid (A Scattering), Glyn Maxwell (Hide Now), Hugo Williams (West End Final) and Sharon Olds (One Secret Thing).

At forty-five, Paterson is the youngest poet on the shortlist. His 1993 Nil Nil won the Forward Prize for best first collection. In 2003 his collection Landing Light won the Whitbread Poetry Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize. Paterson is also a Granta contributor – his poem, ‘The Swing’, appears in Granta’s celebratory 100th issue. His memoir, ‘If With His Skirt He Do Touch Bread or Pottage’, appears in Granta 105.

Granta contributors Paul Farley and Robin Robertson have been shortlisted in the best single poem category, alongside Stanley Kunitz, Elizabeth Speller, George Szirtes and C.K. Williams.

Farley’s collection, The Ice Age, won the Whitbread Poetry Award in 2002. His essay, ‘Netherley’ (co-authored with Niall Griffiths), appeared in Granta 102. Farley’s photography has also been featured on Granta.com. His poem, ‘Cyan’, appears in Granta 104.

Robertson’s Swithering won the 2004 Forward Prize for best poetry collection. His poem ‘Album’ appears in Granta 101.