Nova's debut collection scoops the CLiPPA award

Karl Nova has won the CLiPPA prize for his debut poetry collection, Rhythm and Poetry, published by Caboodle Books.

Grace Nichols, a poet and judge of this year’s award, said: “This book really stood out for me with its refreshing use of the rap genre, its musicality, its immediacy and thoughtful reflections on the creative process. Karl Nova's poems ring true with a sincere charm that children and young people can relate to and that may inspire their own writing.”

Rising Stars, an anthology of poems by Ruth Awolola, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Abigail Cook, Jay Hulme and Amina Jama, published by Otter-Barry Books, was highly commended.

The award is administered by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), which is sending 350 free copies of the shortlisted books to teachers across the country.

CLPE received a 70% increase in submissions this year and CLPE chief executive Louise Johns-Shepherd said: “At CLPE, we are determined to celebrate the very best children’s poetry by involving more schools, producing more resources and getting more poetry books into schools. We promote it, we research it, we help teachers to use it in schools – we are poetry because poetry is the gateway to literacy.”

Karl Nova received the award and a cheque for £1,000 at a ceremony at The National Theatre in London. The shortlisted poets performed on stage alongside children from the CLiPPA Shadowing Scheme, whose winning performances were selected from hundreds of competition entries. Everyone who attended received an advance copy of the new anthology from National Poetry Day, Poetry for a Change.