NEXT GENERATION POETS
We're delighted to announce that the Poetry Book Society (PBS) has been awarded a Major Projects Grant from Arts Council England to deliver Next Generation Poets (NGP), with generous support from the T.S. Eliot Foundation, Folio Society and a Tower Poetry Development Grant.
Beginning in 1994 as New Generation Poets, the PBS ran Next Generation Poets in 2004 and 2014 to celebrate the 20 best debut poets of the decade. NGP has launched the careers of distinguished poets such as Kae Tempest, Daljit Nagra and Simon Armitage. Now in its 4th iteration, this exciting new NGP chapter will also mark the Poetry Book Society's 10th anniversary in Newcastle upon Tyne. We can't wait to share the Next Generation Poets with you through an ambitious programme of 20 events for the 20 poets of the decade throughout 2027.
PUBLISHER INFORMATION
Publishers are invited to enter poets based in the UK & Ireland who have published a debut collection between 1st May 2014 and 30th June 2026. Entries must be submitted by publishers (not poets) via the Zealous online submissions link below. Self-published or unpublished works are not eligible. If you are a poet interested in being entered, please contact your publisher.
Entries open 3rd July (9am BST) until 14th August 2026 (5pm BST)
ENTRY GUIDELINE FAQs
Poet Eligibility
1. Eligible poets must have first published a single author DEBUT collection during the period from 1st May 2014 to 30th June 2026. Due to Covid and funding the NGP decade has been extended to ensure no one misses out.
2. The poets must currently be resident in the UK or Ireland. Publishers will need to enter their poets' addresses at the submission stage for event planning.
3. Each publisher may submit one collection per poet.
4. In the case of the debut poet having published more than one collection within the timeframe, the publisher will decide which one to submit.
5. The entry does not have to be the poet's debut collection. The publisher may enter a later collection, provided it was published within the specified time frame.
6. The prize is attached to the poet rather than a specific collection.
Title Eligibility
1. Eligible poets must have first published a single author DEBUT collection during the period from 1st May 2014 to 30th June 2026. Due to Covid and funding the NGP decade has been extended to ensure no one misses out.
2. The poets must currently be resident in the UK or Ireland. Publishers will need to enter their poets' addresses at the submission stage for event planning.
3. Each publisher may submit one collection per poet.
4. In the case of the debut poet having published more than one collection within the timeframe, the publisher will decide which one to submit.
5. The entry does not have to be the poet's debut collection. The publisher may enter a later collection, provided it was published within the specified time frame.
6. The prize is attached to the poet rather than a specific collection.
7. If the poet is published by more than one publisher, each publisher may submit a collection by that poet.
8. There are no age restrictions for Next Generation Poets.
9. The selected poets must be based in the UK or Ireland and available to take part in the Next Generation Poets PR and events from March-Dec 2027.
Submission Process
1. Submissions are open for 6 weeks from 3rd July 2026 (9am) to 14th August 2026 (5pm BST)
2. Work should be submitted by the publisher online in finished book form (PDF).
3. Each entry must be accompanied by a fully completed online submission form on Zealous.
4. To remove barriers to access, publishers with under 5 full time team members can enter 2 BOOKS FOR FREE. Publishers are trusted to only add this option to their checkout basket where appropriate and usage will be monitored.
5. All other entries are charged at £20 per book, paid via Zealous.
6. You can add multiple packages and pay for them in one checkout process e.g. 1 x "Small Publisher 2 Free Entries" and 1 x Standard Entry.
7. The "Small Publisher 2 Free Entries" option allows you to upload 2 books so only needs to be added to your basket once.
8. There is no limit to the number of poets whose collections may be submitted by any one publisher although we reserve the right to amend this if the volume of entries exceeds expectations.
9. Publishers must fill out the supporting statement outlining why this poet should be a Next Generation Poet. This is your chance to outline their contribution to UK & Irish poetry over the past decade for the judging panel.
10. The Poetry Book Society will treat the submissions as confidential and judges will be required to declare any conflicts of interest.
11. The last date for submissions will be 14th August 5pm (BST)
12. The decision of the judges will be final.
13. If your submission is ineligible we can only refund 50% of the entry fee for that title.
Publisher Agreement
1. All submitted titles must be available and in print throughout 2027. In the case of out-of-print titles, publishers must agree to reprint so that book orders can be fulfilled.
2. Up to 10 hard copies must be available on request for marketing, PR and event programming purposes, once the 20 Next Generation Poets are selected.
3. Publishers agree to supply books for events in a timely fashion in liaison with partner venues and the PBS/NGP team.
4. By submitting, publishers agree to have their titles listed for sale through poetrybooks.co.uk. The PBS sells books to its members at 25% discount.
5. Submitted books must be supplied at trade discounts of 45% for the PBS.
6. Books must be available for trade orders via a UK distributor, wholesaler, or the publisher directly.
7. We intend to promote NGP books across wider bookshops and events. Publishers may need to agree to higher discount rates with other retailers.
8. Publishers agree to sell ebook versions of the NGP related books, where possible, for digital library promotion plans
9. Publishers agree to share rights information for NGP related books in advance of any worldwide promotions
10. If required, publishers agree to add printed NGP stickers to books for bookshop promotions
11. NGP poems may be reproduced in the press, social media, TV, radio, PBS/NGP website, and/or partner websites, in e-newsletters, in printed or online educational resources or any other promotional material produced for the purposes of marketing NGPs.
12. Publishers agree to grant gratis permission and supply full copyright credit lines for all poems or quotations used online or in social media posts by NGP, PBS and partners.
13. Publishers agree to provide gratis licensed photos of poets for social media assets.
14. Please note key information and assets will be shared with partners including FMcM PR and event venues, in accordance with GDPR.
Key Dates
• Poets must have published a debut collection between 1st May 2014 and 30th June 2026.
• 3rd July 2026 (9am BST) - submissions open for six weeks
• 14th August 2026 (5pm BST) - submissions close
• Judging process runs from September - December 2026.
• Selected poets and publishers will be informed by Jan/Feb 2027.
OUR JUDGES
Simon Armitage
(Chair) Poet Laureate
Simon Armitage was born and grew up in West Yorkshire. He is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and the PEN Prize for Translation. He has published over a dozen poetry collections, and his recent books Dwell and Blossomise were Sunday Times bestsellers. His major new poetry collection New Cemetery was published in September 2025. Armitage also writes, records and performs with the band LYR and has received an Ivor Novello Award for his song writing. He is the author of two novels and three non-fiction bestsellers: All Points North, Walking Home and Walking Away. A regular broadcaster, who also writes for television and radio, Armitage presented the popular BBC Radio 4 series The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed and, more recently, My Poetry and Other Animals. An award-winning dramatist, his plays The Last Days of Troy and his contemporary spin on Hansel and Gretel were performed at Shakespeare’s Globe. Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 2019.
MALIKA BOOKER
Poet
Malika Booker is a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage. Her collection Pepper Seed (Peepal Tree Press, 2013) was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and features on the A Level English Literature syllabus. Malika Booker is the first woman to win the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem twice – in 2020 for 'The Little Miracles' and in 2023 for 'Libation'. She is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
IMTIAZ DHARKER
Poet
Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist, video film-maker, awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2014, Chancellor of Newcastle University UK since 2020. She reads to over 40,000 students a year with Poetry Live, has been Poet in Residence at Cambridge University Library and often works across art forms in collaboration with dancers, composers and artists. Her seven collections include Over the Moon and her latest, Shadow Reader, all published by Bloodaxe Books UK. She has had eleven solo exhibitions of drawings and scripts and directs video films for non-government organisations in the area of shelter, education and community health.
DALJIT NAGRA
Poet
Daljit Nagra is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature, Fellow of Society of Authors, a PBS Next Generation Poet, and presenter of the weekly Poetry Extra on Radio 4 Extra. Daljit Nagra, MBE, has published four poetry collections, all with Faber & Faber, which have won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem and Best First Book, the South Bank Show Decibel Award and the Cholmondeley Award, and have been shortlisted for the Costa Prize and twice for the TS Eliot Prize. His 2023 collection indiom was a PBS Choice. His latest collection is Yiewsley.
HANAN ISSA
Poet
Hanan Issa is a Welsh-Iraqi poet, artist, and film-maker from Cardiff. In 2022, she was announced as the National Poet of Wales, the first Muslim to hold the position. Her publications include her poetry collection My Body Can House Two Hearts and her children’s poetry anthology And I Hear Dragons. Her winning monologue With Her Back Straight was performed at the Bush Theatre as part of the Hijabi Monologues. She is part of the writers room for Channel 4’s award-winning series We Are Lady Parts. Her work has been featured on Radio 3 and Radio 4.
SINéAD MORRISSEY
Poet
Sinéad Morrissey was born in Northern Ireland in 1972 and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. She has published six collections with Carcanet as well as a selected poems, Found Architecture (2020). Her awards include a Lannan
Literary Fellowship (2007), First Prize in the UK National Poetry Competition (2007), the Irish Times Award (2009, 2013) and the T.S. Eliot Prize for her fifth collection, Parallax, in 2013. In 2016 she received the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2020 Sinéad Morrissey was named the European Poet of Freedom by the City of Gdańsk, Poland and in 2024 she was the recipient of the Seamus Heaney Award (Japan).
JADE CUTTLE
Poet & Reviewer
Jade Cuttle is a poet, novelist, academic and The Observer's poetry critic. After working at The Times as an Arts Commissioning Editor, she now presents programs like Digging for Words on Radio 3 in her role as a BBC New Generation Thinker. She’s an award-winning poet and singer-songwriter of Algal Bloom, an album of nature-inspired poem-songs, and has won a Northern Writers’ Award, Future Worlds Prize-shortlisting, Bridport Prize longlisting and Arts Council Funding.
Photographer credit: Andrzej Bugajski.
TED HODGKINSON
Head of Literature and Spoken Word, Southbank Centre
Ted Hodgkinson is Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, Europe’s largest arts centre. Since taking up the role, he has launched a range of new initiatives, from the Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective to Indie Night, which champions independent publishing. He leads the programming for the London Literature Festival and a range of cross-arts projects and festivals featuring world-renowned authors and cultural icons. His previous experience encompasses roles at Granta and the British Council, overseeing programming in the Middle East and South Asia. He has judged numerous awards, including the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and was chair of judges for the International Booker Prize in 2020. He is a trustee of English PEN, New Writing North and The Arts Foundation. He has twice been named among The Bookseller’s 100 most influential people in publishing and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
THE NEXT GENERATION TOUR
Watch this space for 20 events for the 20 poets of the decade across 2027 from South Shields to the Southbank Centre; Durham Book Festival; Shakespeare's Globe; StAnza Poetry Festival, St Andrews; Ledbury Poetry Festival; National Writer's Centre, Norwich; The Bound, North Tyneside; National Poetry Centre, Leeds; York Poetry Pharmacy; Manchester Poetry Library; Shakespeare & Co, Paris and Kolkata International Poetry Festival. The Poetry Takeaway will bring NGP poets to football stadiums and The British Council will grow international audiences for NGP through their physical libraries in South Asia and digital libraries network in over 30 countries. We're also running a major CYP outreach programme, match-funded by Tower Poetry, with lead partners Poetry By Heart and National Poetry Centre to reach around 3000 schools; an NGP mentorship scheme with the Writing Squad's 16-22 year olds and a reviewers programme with the Poetry Society's Young Poets Network.
our PARTNERS INCLUDE
Testimonials
Kolkata’s International Poetry Festival is the largest poetry festival of Asia and has so far hosted poets from over 30 countries and over 35 languages. Having NGP poets represented would amplify the long-lasting partnership between PBS and the festival where every year 2-3 poets have been presented through hybrid mode to a large audience during the festival. It would further strengthen the culture cooperation between UK and India.
SONNET MONDAL
Kolkata International Poetry Festival Director
Next Generation Poets provides a perfect opportunity to create new international audiences for an exciting and diverse group of UK poets, through a programme that will inspire new ideas, enjoyment and professional connections that will last a lifetime.
Rachel Stevens
Co-Director of Literature at British Council
Next Generation Poets is a key part of the poetry ecosystem, consistently identifying talented poets and catapulting them to the next stage of their careers. The National Poetry Centre will be a keen and enthusiastic ally, helping bring it to a wide and truly diverse audience.
Nick Barley
Director of National Poetry Centre
Next Generation Poets is a vital initiative which has been an important catalyst for so many poets over the years.
Ted Hodgkinson
Head of Literature at the Southbank Centre
WITH THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS
