Terms and conditions

All submissions must be in the post and not via email and be accompanied by a completed submission form. The submission form is mailed by Colman Getty in February each year. To request a submission form, please contact: Kate Wright-Morris, Colman Getty Consultancy, 28 Windmill Street, London W1T 2JJ or kate@colmangetty.co.uk

The Forward Prizes are sponsored by Forward and Felix Dennis under the direction of the Forward Arts Foundation, who will appoint the judges. The Prizes are administered by Colman Getty Consultancy. They will be awarded in three categories:

Category A: The Forward Prize for Best Collection
A prize of £10,000 will be given to the author of the best collection of poetry, published in the UK or Republic of Ireland between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2007.

Category B: The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection
A prize of £5,000 will be given to the author of the best first collection of poetry published in the UK or Republic of Ireland between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2007.

Category C: The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in memory of Michael Donaghy
A prize of £1,000 will be given to the author of the best single poem which is not part of a collection or an anthology and which has been published in a newspaper, periodical or magazine in the UK or Republic of Ireland between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2007 or to a poem which has been the winner of a poetry competition with a prize awarded between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2007. Book length poems should be submitted in the Best Collection or Best First Collection category.

The judges of the Prizes will be responsible for compiling shortlists of not less than four and no more than six entries in each of the three categories. In addition the judges may each call in 2 eligible poems or collections of poetry for consideration (no later than 10 June 2007).
In that event publishers will be asked to submit 6 copies of each. Only in exceptional circumstances, and then only with the prior approval of the Forward Arts Foundation, may any of the prizes be divided.

ELIGIBILITY

• (a) All entries must be published in the UK or Republic of Ireland within the dates specified (see above).
• (b) Poems or collections of poetry must be written in English. Translations from other languages are not eligible.
• (c) Anthologies or collections of works by more than one author are not eligible.
• (d) Entries from individual poets of their own work will not be accepted. This includes self-published collections.
• (e) Work submitted on behalf of an author who is deceased at the date of publication of the work is not eligible.
• (f) Collections which contain new and selected poems may be eligible, but the judges will only consider the new poems for the Prizes.
• (g) The decision of the judges on the eligibility of a poem, or a collection of poetry, is final and binding.
• (e) Work submitted on behalf of an author who is deceased at the date of publication of the work is not eligible.
• (f) Collections which contain new and selected poems may be eligible, but the judges will only consider the new poems for the Prizes.
• (g) The decision of the judges on the eligibility of a poem, or a collection of poetry, is final and binding.

ENTRIES

• (a) Collections of poetry (Categories A and B) must be submitted by the publisher. Single poems (Category C) may only be submitted by the editors and literary editors of newspapers, periodicals and magazines published in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
  Winners of poetry competitions must be submitted by the organising body.
• (b) Publishers may enter up to 4 poems or 4 collections of poetry in each category.
• (c) Collections may only be entered in one category.
• (d) Single poems should be photocopied onto A4 sheets. Collections of poetry may be submitted in final book, page proofs or galley form.
• (e) No poem, or collection of poetry, nominated for the Forward Poetry Prizes will be returned.
• (f) Submissions in all categories must be received by the Forward Prizes Administrators by Friday 4 May 2007.

THE FORWARD BOOK OF POETRY
All works entered for The Forward Prizes will also be considered for inclusion in The Forward Book of Poetry, an anthology of the year’s best poetry. The Forward Book of Poetry is a nonprofit making venture and it is therefore a condition of entry that publishers allow poems to be reproduced without payment of an anthology fee, but with appropriate acknowledgements, for distribution throughout the world in the English language.