Forward Poetry Prizes 2010 Shortlists

Best Collection
1. Human Chain (Faber & Faber, 2010) / Seamus Heaney
2. Small Hours (Faber & Faber, 2010) / Lachlan Mackinnon
3. Through the Square Window (Carcanet Press, 2009) / Sinéad Morrissey
4. The Wrecking Light (Picador, 2010) / Robin Robertson
5. Rough Music (Carcanet Press, 2010) / Fiona Sampson
6. Of Mutability (Faber & Faber, 2010) / Jo Shapcott

Best First Collection
1. Running the Dusk (Peepal Tree Press, 2010) / Christian Campbell
2. Berg (Seren, 2009) / Hilary Menos
3. How to Pour Madness into a Teacup (Cinnamon Press, 2009) / Abegail Morley
4. Learning Gravity (tall-lighthouse, 2010) / Helen Oswald
5. A Curious Shipwreck (Shearsman Books, 2010) / Steve Spence
6. New Light for the Old Dark (Jonathan Cape, 2010) / Sam Willetts

The Forward prizes, founded in 1992, are intended to raise the profile of contemporary poetry. The best collection award for 2009 was won by Scottish poet Don Paterson, for Rain, and this year’s winners will be announced on October 6, in London.