UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and the Poetry School are delighted to announce the shortlist for The Laurel Prize, rewarding the best nature and environmental poetry books of the year.
The Laurel 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 is awarded to the best collection of environmental or nature poetry published that year. The shortlisted poets – judged this year by the poets David Morley (Chair) and Imtiaz Dharker, and environmental policy expert Bethan Laughlin – is as follows (in alphabetical order):
- Midden Witch by Fiona Benson (Jonathan Cape)
- Ethnology by Cathy Galvin (Bloodaxe Books)
- Natural History by Brandon Kilbourne (Graywolf Press)
- Tipping Point by Jane Lovell (Night River Wood)
The Storm’s Flora by Laura Wainwright (Seren Books)
WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:
“The shortlist grew out of a warm, lively and wonderfully engaged conversation among the judges, guided by the parameters set by the Poet Laureate. We read poems aloud to each other, hearing them come alive in the room, and above all we wanted poems with real power, poems that surprised us, moved us and made us see the world differently. The environmental and climate emergency formed an important backdrop, but what mattered was what the poets did with it, transforming subject into language, imagination and art. At their best, these poems bring together the art of nature and the nature of art, reminding us that the way we imagine the living world can change the way we live in it.”
David Morley, Poet and 2026 Judge (Chair).
“Reading these poems over months, I felt the focus and urgency in collection after collection. The poets have not just honoured the subject matter, but marshalled language and form to find their own ways to speak of threatened ecologies and fragile social structures. We came to a shortlist at last but I have to say there were gems on our longlists that were hard to let go, all the more evidence of how vibrant poetry is, and how it steps up to speak for the world.”
Imtiaz Dharker, Poet and 2026 Judge.
“This shortlist gathers five collections that speak to the natural world through vastly different styles, methods and vantage points, yet each refuses to treat nature – or our attempts to use and control it – as something to be remarked upon from afar. At a time when connecting people with the natural world has never been more important, I believe these poems work to close the artificial distance we so often create between “human” and “nature”, instead making the living world something we are held inside of, answerable to, altered by, and utterly part of.”
Bethan Laughlin, Senior Policy Specialist at international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and 2026 Judge.
The prize awards £5,000 for the winner of the prize and £1,000 for the other four finalists. The winner will also receive a four-night writing retreat in mid-Wales courtesy of 2026 prize partners Write Within.
LAUREL CEREMONY
This year’s Laurel Prize winner will be announced at a special event as part of the BBC Contains Strong Language festival.
- Ceremony Date: Friday 25 September 2026
Location: BBC Philharmonic Studio, MediaCity, Salford, M50 2EQ - Time: 7.00 – 8.30pm
- Tickets – free but booking is essential.
The ceremony will feature readings and discussion with the shortlisted poets on a panel chaired by Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, Helen Mort. The event will culminate with the live announcement of this year’s winning writer.
The full line up for the BBC Contains Strong Language festival can be found here. This includes two Laurel workshops run by the Poetry School during the BBC festival.
