Our first poetry news round up of 2026 takes a look at the poet awarded an MBE in the New Years honours list, a poetry event in a cathedral and the poet taking part in the inauguration for the new mayor of New York.
Poet Awarded MBE in New Year Honours List
The novelist and poet Andrew McMillan has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s honours list for his services to literature. Born in 1988 in Barnsley, “physical” his debut collection was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book award. “physical” went on to win the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection prize, a Northern Writers’ award, a Somerset Maugham award, and an Eric Gregory award. His second collection also won a number of awards.
When interviewed about his work McMillan said that a lot of the poems in his first collection were rejected by all of the poetry magazines.
He has also co-edited “100 Queer Poems” which made it to the shortlist of the British Book Awards and has published a debut novel “Pity” which was inspired by his place of birth and mining.
McMillan is currently a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in the Manchester Writing School.
Music and Poetry at Exeter Cathedral
On 27th January, Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare will be joined by the widow of the poet Ted Hughes at Exeter Cathedral for an event that will see them sharing a collection of poems in celebration of the natural world.
The readings will be complemented by music from Vaughan Williams, Vivaldi, Haydn, and Max Richter which will be performed by Iddesleigh String Quartet. The event will mark the 50th anniversary of the charity establish by the Morpurgo’s, Farms for City Children.
Acclaimed Poet Honours Mamdani with Inaugural Poem
The poet Cornelius Eady, a finalist in the National Book Award has been selected to be the inaugural poet for the swearing-in ceremony of Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York.
When he received an unsolicited email, offering him the chance to write and perform a poem for the ceremony, Eady wondered if he was the recipient of an elaborate phishing attempt. Having never spoken to or met the mayor-elect, although he had written about voting for him, he was eventually persuaded that the email was not a hoax, however it did take him a while to accept.
The poem is titled Proof and was written especially for the ceremony which took place on New Years Day. Eady has described is as a public poem, written in tribute to “people that you don’t see,” these are in his opinion the New Yorkers who have ideas and concerns that the city leaders do not hear.
Eady is not only an award-winning poet, he is also a musician and a playwright. He is also a co-founder of Cave Canem a non-profit that has nurtured generations of Black poets. Including the likes of Tracy K. Smith, Terrance Hayes and Tyehimba Jess. He is a recent recipient of the Wallace Stevens Awards from the Academy of American Poets and a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
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