Sarah Howe won the Forward prize for best collection, receiving £10,000 for her second poetry book Foretokens at London’s Southbank Centre on Saturday evening. Joelle Taylor hosted the ceremony, which also recognized three other poets across different categories during the event.
Foretokens Earns Best Collection Honor
Howe’s winning collection explores new parenthood, the death of her father, and her mother’s early life in Hong Kong. Born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother, Howe published Foretokens a decade after her debut collection, Loop of Jade, became the first debut to win the TS Eliot prize. The new collection was also shortlisted for the 2025 TS Eliot prize. Reviewing the book for The Guardian, Rishi Dastidar called it “a quite brilliant return,” praising the poet’s “keen, probing intelligence.” Mónica Parle, co-executive director of the Forward prizes, described the book as “an exceptional collection” that “can emerge after 10 years in the making and still bear distinct relevance to our time.”
Jerwood Prize Goes to Nur Turkmani
Nur Turkmani won the £5,000 Jerwood prize for best first collection for October, a book Turkmani mostly wrote in Beirut during a period marked by protests, wildfires, economic collapse, a port explosion, and ongoing war. Turkmani, a Lisbon-based poet who grew up in Beirut, said writing became a way of “seeing, understanding and continuing.” The collection was also shortlisted for this year’s PEN Heaney prize and marks both the first nomination and first win for its publisher, the independent Hajar Press. The judging panel was chaired by novelist Sarah Moss, alongside Romalyn Ante, WN Herbert, Michael Mullen, and Yomi Ṣode.
Tara Bergin and Biff Smith Claim Poetry Categories
Tara Bergin won the Forward prize for best single poem in written form for The Fear, which was first published in the Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly. Bergin, a Dublin-born poet who teaches creative writing at Newcastle University, noted that the poem stemmed from a poetry writing class she devised called “Fear Poetry.” Meanwhile, Scottish singer-songwriter Biff Smith won the best single poem in the performance category for Dumbarton East, recorded at the Scottish performance night Loud Poets. Smith, who won both the Scottish and World Poetry Slam Championships last year, wrote the winning piece while commuting on a train. Both Bergin and Smith received £1,000.
Questions About the 2026 Forward Prizes
Who won the £10,000 Forward prize for best collection?
Sarah Howe won the best collection prize for her second book, Foretokens, which explores new parenthood, the death of her father and her mother’s early life in Hong Kong.
Which publisher secured its first win at the ceremony?
The independent Hajar Press won its first nomination and award through Nur Turkmani’s collection October, which took home the Jerwood prize for best first collection.