Rebecca Swift Foundation postpones Women Poets’ Prize 2024

The Rebecca Swift Foundation has postponed the Women Poets’ Prize 2024 after not securing ongoing funding from Arts Council England. 

Organisers said they had to make the “difficult decision” due to reduced resources and capacity without the funding and would focus on fundraising efforts instead. An email to supporters said last year’s crowdfunding campaign meant the foundation could continue to provide support “through events, resources and programmes” for women poets.  

The foundation added: “It is important to us that the prize remains free to enter, and that it can continue to offer the unique combination of cash, professional development, craft and mentoring to our winning women poets, whom we have seen go on to publish award-winning debut collections, and tour and perform their work nationally... All of this we want to ensure is maintained for future years.

“While we seek alternate funding or sponsorship for the Women Poets’ Prize, we are working with Fair Collective to reach out to trusts and foundations who we feel would be aligned with our mission to keep free and low-cost provisions open to women poets who most need them, and for whom interventions at the intersection of craft, creativity and wellbeing could be (and are) life-changing.

“We believe in the value of what we do and what we offer – making connections between women poets to empower the community from within, and building bridges to opportunities for building sustainable careers – and we are grateful to all of you for continuing to support our work, too.”

The Women Poets’ Network remains open to all women poets from £15 per year.