Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University Dr Carrie Etter’s Imagined Sons has been shortlisted for the prestigious Ted Hughes Award for New Work, alongside just four other finalists.
The award acknowledges poetry that is considered to go beyond the page, and make an exciting and outstanding contribution made by the poets to our cultural life.
Imagined Sons evokes a birthmother’s life after the loss of a child through adoption.
Commenting on the shortlisting, Dr Etter said: “With such prestigious poets on the shortlist, I feel I’ve won already by being named among them. It’s a great honour.”
The award was established in 2009 by Poet Laureate and Vice President of the Poetry Society, Carol Ann Duffy, and the £5,000 prize is funded by the annual honorarium the Poet Laureate received from HM The Queen.
The diverse range of poetry submissions are received from members of the Poetry Society and the Poetry Book Society.
Professor John Strachan, Acting Dean of the School of Humanities and Cultural Industries commented: “The School is proud of Carrie’s achievement in being nominated for this highly prestigious award, and that it is also testimony to the continued excellence of the Creative Writing team at Bath Spa University.”
The judges for this year’s competition included the artist Grayson Perry and poets Julia Copus and Kei Miller.
Previous winners include Maggie Sawkins for her poem entitled Zones of Avoidance in 2013 and Kate Tempest for Brand New Ancients in 2012.
The winner of this prestigious award will be announced on Thursday 2nd April 2015 at an awards ceremony held at the Savile Club in London.
