This week’s poetry news round up takes a look at the winners of the Frank O’Hara Prize and the Griffin Poetry Prize. We also look at Milk Wood Memoir.
Winner of 2026 Frank O’Hara Prize Announced
The poet Maia Campbell, who publishes using the name M. Campbell has been announced as the 2026 Frank O’Hara Prize winner. The contest judge chose her poem “apologia poetica” from a pool of 197 submissions made by 75 entrants.
Campbell is Jamaican-American. In 2025, she came second for the Frank O’Hara Prize Competition with her poem
“When I Grow Up.”
This year the second-place winner was Dr. Huili Zheng for her poem, “Legoland at Night,” third place was awarded to Michael Milligan who hails from Worcester for, “Among the Trees.”
Established in 1973, The O’Hara Prize honours the celebrated 20th century American poet Frank O’Hara, who grew up in Grafton. This is an annual award given by WCPA. The winning poet receives a prize of $125, second place is $100, and third place is $75. Each of the prize poems will be published in The Worcester Review, which is the WCPA’s literary journal.
The winners ceremony, together with a reading, will take place on 27th September.
2026 Griffin Poetry Prize Winner Announced
Kevin Young, and American poet has been named the winner of the Griffin Prize 2026. The award ceremony took place on 3rd June.
There were 7 poets on the shortlist for this year’s prize which has a cash award of $130,000. The finalists receive $10,000 each. Young’s winning collection is “For Night Watch” ; this is a collection that has been written over 16 years.
Young is the poetry editor of The New Yorker, and also the host of Poetry Podcast. He has also written 16 books of prose and poetry.
Submissions for the Griffin Prize this year totalled 461 books of poetry. This number included 34 translations from 19 languages. 219 publishers spanning 42 different countries submitted the entries.
Untold Stories of Dylan Thomas to be Shared at Cardigan Event
Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, a poet from New Quay, will be sharing family recollections about the Poet Dylan Thomas during an event that will take place next week in Cardigan. Amongst the untold stories will be the story of the night that the poet shot himself.
Wynne-Rhydderch will also be reading from her fourth collection of poetry which is titled Milk Wood Memoir. During the reading she is hoping to show the sadness, joy and fears that went on in the town that she believes is an important key to the poet’s own work Under Milk Wood. She will also talk about her grandfather’s presence at the poet’s house on the night in March 1945 when he was shot.
Milk Wood Memoirs considers local history and lore and offers a voice to a collection of characters that capture the memory of the town.
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