This week’s poetry news round up takes a look at the poem withdrawn from the Forward Prize and the winners of the 2025 Annual Pegasus Awards.
Poet Laureate’s Poem Withdrawn from Shortlist over “Eligibility Error”
The poem “Birds of the Arctic” written by Simon Armitage has been withdrawn from the category of Best Single Poem in this years Forward Prize. The poem which had been placed in the shortlist was withdrawn when it was discovered that there was an “eligibility error” – the poem has previously been published in another magazine.
Entries in the category were required to be “new work” and as such the poem was not actually eligible. The request to withdraw the poem came from Armitage himself who alerted the prize panel that the poem had previously been published but that those involved in its submission had been unaware of this.
Following the removal of the poem from the shortlist the judges panel reconvened to select a replacement poem from their selection of highly commended poems. The replacement poem on the shortlist is “Live Stream” by Claire Lynn.
2025 Recipients of the 21st Annual Pegasus Awards Announced
Established in 2004 the Pegasus Awards are a group of literary prizes that recognise services to the literary arts, lifetime achievements in craft and poetry criticism. Under this banner this year’s winners are Kazim Ali, 2025 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, Amy Stolls, 2025 Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry and Rigoberto González, 2025 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
The Pegasus Awards ceremony will take place in October in Chicago. There will also be a free public poetry reading that will take place at the Poetry Foundation at the end of October.
Rigoberto González has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award (The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize) in recognition of his substantial contributions to the world of poetry. Over the course of the last 30 years, he has penned 17 books on a range of genres in addition to poetry. His work is described as having inspired generations of writers, showing them the power, that literature can have on individuals. Born in California, which makes him eligible for the prize, Gonzáles was raised in Mexico before returning to California where he attended university. He has worked as a critic and editor during his career and is currently a professor of English and creative writing.
Amy Stolls has spent the last 26 years working at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) championing readers, writers, and publishers. She has been responsible for overseeing a number of significant projects including Poetry Out Loud and the National Book Festival. Alongside this she has also taught literature at American University in Washington and has authored two novels.
Kazim Ali has received the Award for Work of Poetry Criticism for “Black Buffalo Woman: An Introduction to the Poetry and Poetics of Lucille Clifton”. The book takes a deep look at the legacy of the poet Lucille Clifton. Ali has also written six collections of poetry and six works of prose, winning a number of awards along the way.
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