This week’s Poetry news roundup looks at the winner of the 2025 King’s Gold Medal and the forgotten Fisherman Poet.
King’s Gold Medal Recipient “Astonished” to Receive Award
Michael Laskey, an 81-year-old poet, has been chosen as the winner of the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry for 2025. The accolade, which was established in 1933 by King George V, is awarded for excellence in the field of poetry to a poet who lives in the UK or the Commonwealth.
Laskey was astonished to have had his work recognised in this way and will now feature amongst the many literary names that he has admired for years, poets like Derek Walcott, Philip Larkin and WH Auden, to name just a few.
Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Laskey has been living in Suffolk with his wife for the last 48 years. His first publication, Cloves of Garlic, 1988, was a joint winner of the Poetry Business pamphlet competition.
During his career, Laskey published six full poetry collections. One of his collections, The Tightrope Wedding, which was published in 1999, was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize.
This is not the first time Laskey has been recognised by royalty; in 2015, he was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to Contemporary Poetry.
Speaking about the award, the current Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, stated:
He went on to describe Laskey’s poetry as
The Forgotten Fisherman Poet
It wasn’t until he lay on his deathbed in 1851 that Thomas Mathers, often referred to as Scotland’s Fisherman Poet, saw the first published copy of his poem. He passed away at his home in Fife before any of those who had supported his work were able to receive a copy.
Titled ’Musings in Verse by Sea and Shore’, the collection received critical acclaim for its heartfelt and honest sentiment, and at the time, it was believed that his permanent place in Scottish culture would be secured.
On his death, he was buried in an unmarked grave, and Musings was confirmed to private collections and all but forgotten.
Now, 175 years after it was published, a replica edition of the original has been produced, and Mathers’ poetry is available to a new audience. It is hoped that this re-publication will offer some recognition to the “Fisherman Poet”.
Born in 1793, Mathers did not enjoy school and left at a young age to help his family. What little education he did receive left him with a lifelong love of reading. Looking for adventure, he signed up with the whaling fleet, mastered navigation skills and travelled before returning to St Monans and the life of a fisherman. This unhealthy lifestyle resulted in him becoming seriously ill, and he died at the age of 58 from jaundice.
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