The winners of 2019’s Keats-Shelley Prizes were announced on 29th April at the annual Awards Ceremony, held this year at the Royal Society of Antiquaries in London.
The master of ceremonies was Professor Michael Rosen, who made the difficult decisions in both the main Keats-Shelley Prize and the Young Romantics, whose entrants must be aged between 16 and 18.
As in previous years, there were two competitions. Poets in both age groups are asked to write on specific themes - this year, 'Fiery Dust' or 'Wanderings', both of which are inspired by the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron's Don Juan. As well as the longstanding Essay Competition in the main Keats-Shelley, the Young Romantics were asked to review a passage from Byron's Manfred.
Keats-Shelley Prize Winners 2019
Leonardo Boix won the Poetry Prize with Unholy Family. The runners-up were: Sarah Doyle for Laika, Tammy Armstrong for Kannazuki, and Sarah Stewart for Mijas Pueblo.
Read all the poems here.
The Essay Prize was won by Joseph Begley for ‘The Mind is its Own Place’.
The runners up were Cora MacGregor (‘Physician to All Men’’) and Kristin Nelson (‘Milton’s Noseprints’ – the title itself deserving of a prize).
The winning entry will be published in the Keats-Shelley Review.
Young Romantics Winners 2019
The Poetry Prize was won by Lucy Thynne for Pompeii.
Runners up were Ella Standage for Cape Sounion and Nadia Lines for Walking Home.
The winner of the Young Romantics Review Prize was Meg Lintern for ‘Manfred: Glory and Ruination’.
The runners-up were Jess Steadman ('Questions of Unity – A response to Manfred Act III, Scene IV') and Alli Channer (‘Manfred and the Burden of the Past’).
Read both shortlists here.
We owe enormous thanks to Professor Michael Rosen, and the amazing Keats-Shelley Prize Judges: Professors Sharon Ruston and Simon Bainbridge (Essays), and the poets Will Kemp and Professor Deryn Rees-Jones.
Read more about them here.
