Phoebe Power

Phoebe Power (b. 1993, Newcastle-upon-Tyne) was a Foyle Young Poet of the year before studying at Cambridge, where she ran the Pembroke Poetry Society. Her pamphlet Harp Duet was published by Eyewear in 2016. The poems in Shrines of Upper Austria take their bearings from the landscapes and local detail of Austria — where Power has travelled — sometimes incorporating and assimilating whole lines of German among the English. Several of the poems draw from the life-story of her Austrian grandmother, Christl.

Power says that ‘You can never be sure how readers will engage with your work when you write it — readers are all different — so knowing that some people have connected with it is truly a joy.’ Her enthusiasm with different modes of engagement has included adapting her poems into collaborative video installations and performance pieces, featuring harps, electronica and a flood-destroyed piano.

Forward Prizes History:

  • 2018 Forward Prizes for Best First Collection, winner for Shrines of Upper Austria (Carcanet)

    





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            Phoebe Power in Conversation with the Forward Prizes