Kunial wins £5k Ledbury Hellens Poetry Prize

Zaffar Kunial has been named the winner for the fourth edition of the Ledbury Hellens Poetry Prize for Second Collections for England’s Green (Faber) worth £5,000.

In an online award ceremony on Monday evening (4th December) all six shortlisted poets read from their work. 

As well as Kunial’s reading, the audience also heard readings from the other five shortlistees: Kaveh Akbar delivered an extract of Pilgrim Bell (Chatto), dubbed “remarkable” by judges and Raymond Antrobus revealed the “informed vigour” of All the Names Given (Picador). 

Fellow shortlisted writer Kayo Chingonyi was praised for the “sheer elegance” of A Blood Condition (Chatto) and Annemarie Ní Churreáin presented The Poison Glen (The Gallery Press), described as a “literary monument to silenced voices”, while Sarah Westcott’s Bloom (Pavilion Poetry) showed “perfect pitch”. 

Kunial was announced as the winner by judges Togara Muzanenhamo and Penelope Shuttle.  

The judges said: “Selecting a shortlist was both a demanding and richly-rewarding process. All the books on the shortlist caught our attention immediately. Our congratulations to all six poets on the power, timeliness and the magic of their collections.  

“We took great care in reading and rereading – and our decision on the winning collection was unanimous. Zaffar Kunial’s England’s Green is a natural and accomplished progression from the previous collection Us and embodies what the prize seeks to encourage and embody.  The collection is grounded, visionary and linguistically meticulous. England’s Green possesses wit and seriousness in a wonderfully maintained equilibrium.  

“Throughout the collection a profoundly original imagination illuminates the complex fabric of existence in charged and insightful poems that leave little doubt that the poet’s skill will only increase with time. We believe England’s Green will be a landmark collection going into the future.” 

This prize aims to support and encourage poets at the "mid-career"’ stage, with a shortlist and a prize of £5,000 for the winning second collection. In assessing the shortlisted second collections, the judges will also read the poets’ first collections and consider how their work has developed from debut to second book. 

The Ledbury Poetry charity creates programmes throughout the year culminating in Ledbury Poetry Festival each July. Now in its 28th year, it is the largest and most international celebration of poetry and spoken word in Britain.