Work With Us

We are looking for two designers, one to create a cover for the Forward Book of Poetry 2022 and one to create a cover for Poems of the Decade 2011-2021.

Fee: £600 per cover
Applications close 5pm Monday 9^th November

Designers are invited to download the briefs below, along with our Equal Opportunities form. Please read the briefs carefully and send a portfolio highlighting examples of your previous work, that you believe will be particularly relevant to this project, to jobs@forwardartsfoundation.org along with your form.

There is no obligation to fill in this form, but all organisations funded by Arts Council England are asked to help work towards diversity in the arts by ensuring that their recruitment processes and channels are without bias. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

The Forward Book of Poetry is an annual anthology which celebrates the best poems from published in UK and Ireland over the proceeding 12 months. The books are released in autumn and are named for the coming year, so Forward Book of Poetry 2022 will be released September 2021.

The poems are selected by judges of the Forward Prizes for Poetry. Of the large UK poetry prizes, the Forward Prizes and books are seen as the cutting edge and sometimes challenging prize, akin to the Turner Prizes in the art world.

The book is essential reading for seasoned poetry enthusiasts and a perfect introduction for new readers. It contains 75 poems by 65 poets. Some of the poets are already famous, some virtually unknown, and the anthology contains a wide range of poetry styles.

Poems of the Decade is an anthology produced each decade to celebrate the best poems from the proceeding ten years. It functions both as a “greatest hits” of the last decade and as a way to understand what changes are happening within the artform.

The book is both an overview for poetry fans and a way in for those unfamiliar with contemporary poetry. A previous Poems of the Decade anthology was selected as an A Level set text. It contains around 70 poems, one per poet. Some of the poets are already famous, some virtually unknown, and the anthology contains a wide range of poetry styles.