From Sidelines to Summit: My Forward Prize Weekend
It was my second time attending the Young Poets Summit and Forward Prize events, the last being in 2023 in Leeds. Once again, I enjoyed it immensely, but this time I was challenged to step out of the sidelines in several exciting roles. Not only did I perform alongside poets from other collectives at the Southbank Centre after the summit, but I also had the huge honour of being a Forward shadow judge, and I got to interview one of the shortlisted poets, Juana Adcock.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t question my sanity and why I’d signed myself up for so many challenges, but the Forward Prize events, and my experiences within them, have made me appreciate the breadth of what poetry can be and do, and that I have something to contribute to the conversation and with my poetic voice.
I was reminded that the distance between ‘emerging’ and ‘established’ as a poet is often imagined. You do the reading, you do the work, you show up prepared, and one day you find yourself in the room you’ve always belonged in, and it feels like a natural next step.
ON BEING A SHADOW JUDGE
Being part of the Forward Prize shadow-judging panel this year taught me very quickly that ‘good poetry’ is not simply about beauty or cleverness. Judges look for risk, emotional truth, and for poems that know exactly what they’re doing — and still dare to step over the edge. Reading the shortlisted works exposed me to a range of subjects I might not otherwise have explored.
It’s one thing to read poetry privately; it’s another to sit in a room where work is held to such high standards and to take part in that process. You think you know what you value in writing until you’re asked to defend it, articulate it, and challenge both it and yourself. Each category demanded a different entry point: language, form, craft, breath, performance, presence.
My internal criteria were put to the test. I had to know why poems worked, and why I thought X should win as opposed to Y. There was no hiding behind vague language or “I just feel like…”. This experience gave me a deep sense of what serious poetic engagement looks like how the cogs of the poetry world turn, what it takes to be recognised in the field, and the directions available to me as a poet. What’s more, it’s pushed me to raise the standard for my own work.
Being a Forward Prize shadow judge forced me out of my comfort zone. I left educated and deeply inspired.
INTERVIEWING JUANA ADCOCK
This was a standout moment for me. I’d just finished reading Juana’s Forward-shortlisted collection, I Sugar the Bones, so her language, her images, her way of thinking about memory, body, place, and inheritance were still sitting with me. It’s one thing to meet a great poet on the page, and something else entirely to sit across from them and ask about their craft.
Speaking to Juana added another dimension to her writing and to my thinking about the things we survive, the places we come from, the people we carry, and the ways we shape language into art. It also got me reflecting deeply on my own writing. Opportunities to chat like this aren’t common, especially for young poets still figuring out where they sit in the wider literary landscape. I thank the Summit, the Forward, and Hive for making this dream possible. I can’t wait for you to hear the interview below!
THE YOUNG POETS SUMMIT & FORWARD PRIZE CEREMONY
Attending the Young Poets Summit as well as the Forward Prize event felt like recognition, but also responsibility. I was representing my mentor, my network, my fellow Hive poets, the cultures I come from, my experiences but most of all, my belief in my poetic voice and my right to be counted as a poet. The day was alive with emerging poets from across the country. From panel talks to workshops, we mingled, scribbled, and chatted.
I was also lucky enough to perform my work at the Southbank Centre, and one thing I quickly learned is that how you define and introduce yourself matters regardless of how you currently see yourself as a poet. I write, and I’ve been published, but I’ve mostly kept my work hidden. Being part of this experience made me realise how much I’ve kept myself on the sidelines. There is a wider ecosystem for writers and poets out there, and I’ve been watching it all from the doorway.
When I introduced myself, when I performed, I said: “I’m not a performer, I’m more of a writer than anything else.” And the response I got repeatedly was: “Don’t say that about yourself. If you write, you perform. You are a performer.” That challenged me in a way I needed. It made me realise that sometimes the only thing separating you from the identity you aspire to is the narrative you tell about yourself.
Meeting other young and emerging poets at the Young Poets Summit, interviewing Juana, performing my work, sitting on that panel, and considering how poems exist in publication showed me the value of putting my work out there more. It made me rethink my own self-definition. Then attending the Forward Prize event was the cherry on the cake of an incredible weekend. Watching the shortlisted poets perform and receive recognition for their work felt different after experiencing the process behind the scenes. It was clear to me that these spaces are not distant. I cannot fully describe the feeling of being in those rooms other than being in a living archive among giants: friendly, amazing, and inspirational giants.
Photos by: Neo Gilder
