Best Poetry 2011

Good evening, Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to this gala night at David Green Books for the announcement of my awards for Best Poem and Best Collection of 2011. The prestige of these awards is underlined by the fact that they are not accompanied by large amounts of prize money but are chosen and recorded solely for artistic purposes when tacky five figure cheques would only spoil the Parnassian spirit in which they are intended. The gin & the tonic are mixed and settled, clean and spritely in the glass and the murmur of expectation is growing. I'm joined here by Gervase Madstrangler, editor of Lokomotiv Salamander magazine, and Melody Nice, author of the collection Wednesday Ribbon Dance.

Gervase, what do you make of the shortlist for Best Poem.

Well, the list has been kept sensibly short. There aren't any obvious poems one could rule out as a worthy winner.

And do you have any ideas about which poem will win.

Anybody who wants to know will probably know already as I think there have been enough clues if you knew where to look.

Melody, there are even fewer titles on the Best Collection short list. What do you make of them.

As a woman I'm bound to point out that the list consists of three men and, as a poet under 40, I also notice that they are all over 40.

But, apart from that. Are they good books.

Well, I'd have picked a different three if I only had three choices.

Thanks. Well, I think we are ready for the announcements.

2011 has been a good year. In fact, it still isn't over because one last trip to London is planned to see Geoffrey Hill and a big performance from him could change one's perspective quite drastically but he wasn't in place when the shortlists were drawn up and so that would just be hard luck. The year began with a grand battle in prospect, titles from Lumsden, Mooney and O'Brien, all established favourites, being in the presses. Then David Harsent came from the ranks of the previously unconsidered and during the summer both prizes were very much wide open. Then in the Autumn, Sasha Dugdale attached herself to the leading group.

Although it would be easy enough to give the Best Poem prize to Harsent, O'Brien or either of the other short-listed poems, it has been marked out for Martin Mooney's Dream of the Fisherman's Wife for a long time now and nothing else has quite made a big enough impression to shift it.

The Harsent book grew and grew throughout the year and was the collection I returned to most often, with poems like Spatchcock, and the series of garden poems impressing themselves on one's consciousness as well as the very fine Ghosts, which was the pick of a tremendous set and so Night by David Harsent wins the Best Collection award.

Congratulations to the winners and shortlisted poets and thanks to all the other poets who have contributed to make 2011 a satisfying year for poetry in these islands.